Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie

Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie (January 9 1900—June 12 1969) was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance.

Biography

Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy, but resigned from the French Navy in 1923. He became a journalist and a poet and was involved with the integralist and monarchist journal "Action Française", but turned towards the Left after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

When the Second World War broke out, d'Astier re-enlisted into the French Navy and became the head of naval intelligence. However, after the fall of France and the proclamation of Vichy France, he was dismissed for his political dossier.

In Lyon, d'Astier joined a group of saboteurs and eventually formed the Resistant group of Libération-sud with Raymond Aubrac and Jean Cavailles. In July 1941 the group began to publish the underground newspaper "Libération" (or "Libération-Sud").

In 1942 d'Astier met with Jean Moulin to discuss about unification of the Resistance and eventually joined forces into the "Conseil National de la Résistance" (CNR, National Council of Resistance). In 1943 he met Charles de Gaulle in Algiers and joined his Free French Forces government-in-exile as a Commissioner to the Interior.

While in London in 1943, he wrote the lyrics for the song "La complainte du partisan".

After the Liberation, d'Astier became Minister of Interior in the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). He continued to publish "Libération" and wrote books based on his experiences. He ran on a French Communist Party platform in the elections of 1946 , and won a seat in the National Assembly for Ille-et-Vilaine. In 1958 he received the Lenin Peace Prize. D'Astier was one of the founders of the Stockholm Committee; he denounced the Soviet Union leadership under Nikita Khrushchev after the crushing of the Hungarian uprising, and broke ties with communists.

His brother, Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie, was from the far right, and, initially a member of the "Action Française", may even have been involved with the "Cagoule" terrorist group. Ultimately, Henri d'Astier also took part in the Resistance.

Emmanuel d'Astier died in Paris in 1969.