Claude Bourdet
Encyclopedia
Claude Bourdet son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet
, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris
. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi
.
He left the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich with an engineering diploma in technical physics in 1933. After his military service in the Artillerie de Montagne, he was put in charge of a mission for the Economy Ministry, during the government of the Front populaire.
He was very active in French Resistance
movements. He participated in the foundation of the resistance newspaper Combat
along with Frenay, of which he was a member of the management committee, until the departure of Frenay to London and later Algeria in 1943, when he was made its representative. From 1942 he took part in the creation and development of the newspaper with the task of dividing the public administrations.
In 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo
, and after being imprisoned at Fresnes
, he was deported to various concentration camps, including Neuengamme, Sachsenhausen
and Buchenwald.
After the war, he continued to write in Combat, but his conflict with the owner of the newspaper, Henri Smadja, returned. He left the newspaper in 1950.
With Gilles Martinet and Roger Stéphane in 1950 he formed L’Observateur, which became L’Observateur Aujourd’hui in 1953, and then the France-Observateur in 1954. Claude Bourdet defended the union of the left and social justice. He supported the anti-colonial fight, denouncing repression in Madagascar
and torture in Algeria
.
In 1961 he investigated and denounced the prefect of the police force Maurice Papon
in connection with the shootings of Algerian FLN
demonstrators on October 17 of that year, in the Paris massacre of 1961
.
His political militancy created tensions which led to a major rupture of the France-Observateur team in 1963, and his subsequent departure from the newspaper.
He continued to publish articles in Témoignage chrétien, Politique Hebdo or Politis, and took part in the special numbers of the Nouvel Observateur.
Edouard Bourdet
Édouard Bourdet was a French playwright.Bourdet was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, and died in Paris.He was married to the poet, Catherine Pozzi; their son was Claude Bourdet.-Plays:* 1910 : Le Rubicon...
, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi
Catherine Pozzi
Catherine Marthe Louise Pozzi was a French poet and woman of letters.-Life:Catherine Pozzi was born in an aristocratic and bourgeois environment at the end of the 19th century, to Samuel Pozzi, surgeon and gynecologist, and Thérèse Loth-Cazalis...
.
He left the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich with an engineering diploma in technical physics in 1933. After his military service in the Artillerie de Montagne, he was put in charge of a mission for the Economy Ministry, during the government of the Front populaire.
He was very active in French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
movements. He participated in the foundation of the resistance newspaper Combat
Combat (newspaper)
Combat was a French newspaper created during the Second World War. Originally a clandestine newspaper of the Resistance, it was headed by Albert Ollivier, Jean Bloch-Michel, Georges Altschuler and, most of all, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, André Malraux, Emmanuel Mounier, and then Raymond Aron...
along with Frenay, of which he was a member of the management committee, until the departure of Frenay to London and later Algeria in 1943, when he was made its representative. From 1942 he took part in the creation and development of the newspaper with the task of dividing the public administrations.
In 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, and after being imprisoned at Fresnes
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, he was deported to various concentration camps, including Neuengamme, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
and Buchenwald.
After the war, he continued to write in Combat, but his conflict with the owner of the newspaper, Henri Smadja, returned. He left the newspaper in 1950.
With Gilles Martinet and Roger Stéphane in 1950 he formed L’Observateur, which became L’Observateur Aujourd’hui in 1953, and then the France-Observateur in 1954. Claude Bourdet defended the union of the left and social justice. He supported the anti-colonial fight, denouncing repression in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and torture in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
In 1961 he investigated and denounced the prefect of the police force Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, who was convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also...
in connection with the shootings of Algerian FLN
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
demonstrators on October 17 of that year, in the Paris massacre of 1961
Paris massacre of 1961
The Paris massacre of 1961 was a massacre in Paris on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War . Under orders from the head of the Parisian police, Maurice Papon, the French police attacked a demonstration of some 30,000 pro-FLN Algerians...
.
His political militancy created tensions which led to a major rupture of the France-Observateur team in 1963, and his subsequent departure from the newspaper.
He continued to publish articles in Témoignage chrétien, Politique Hebdo or Politis, and took part in the special numbers of the Nouvel Observateur.