Lisette de Brinon
Encyclopedia
Lisette, Marquise de Brinon (1896 – 26 March 1982) was best known as the Jewish
wife of the pro-Nazi
French
collaborator, Fernand de Brinon
.
Born Jeanne Louise Rachel Franck, she lived in an internal exile throughout the Second World War: declared an "honorary Aryan
," she was not deported to her death, but neither was she welcome in Vichy
or in Paris
.
Born to a family of Jewish bankers in Paris
and formerly married to a Jewish banker Claude Ullmann, Lisette de Brinon was an inveterate socialite, surrounding herself with notables of the left (Léon Blum
) and of the right (Pierre Drieu la Rochelle
). Emmanuel Berl
, best known for writing some of Philippe Pétain
's early speeches, was a first cousin.
Her second husband, Fernand, Marquis de Brinon, was a Catholic aristocrat who distinguished himself with an early scoop interview with Adolf Hitler
, and became one of the architects of French collaboration after France's catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Nazis in June 1940. As the war progressed, the couple were distanced partly by Lisette's inconvenient Jewishness, and also because of Brinon's long-term affair with his secretary Simone Mittre. Lisette attempted to follow Brinon when the Vichy government fled to exile in the castle of Sigmaringen
following the Allied liberation. Although she managed to risk death by entering Germany
, she never reached the castle.
Brinon and her husband were captured by Allied Forces and brought back to stand trial in Toulouse
. She was imprisoned briefly while her husband was found guilty of treason and executed in 1947. She was a friend of another collaborator, Jacques Benoist-Méchin
.
The Marquise de Brinon died in 1982 in a nursing home in the Paris suburb of Montmorency
.
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
wife of the pro-Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
collaborator, Fernand de Brinon
Fernand de Brinon
Fernand de Brinon, Marquis de Brinon was a French lawyer and journalist who was one of the architects of French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II...
.
Born Jeanne Louise Rachel Franck, she lived in an internal exile throughout the Second World War: declared an "honorary Aryan
Honorary Aryan
Honorary Aryan is a term from Nazi Germany. It was a status granted by the Nazi Bureau of Race Research to certain individuals and groups of people—who were not generally considered to be biologically part of the Aryan race—which certified them as being part of the Aryan race...
," she was not deported to her death, but neither was she welcome in Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
or 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...
.
Born to a family of Jewish bankers 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...
and formerly married to a Jewish banker Claude Ullmann, Lisette de Brinon was an inveterate socialite, surrounding herself with notables of the left (Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
) and of the right (Pierre Drieu la Rochelle
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Pierre Eugène Drieu La Rochelle was a French writer of novels, short stories and political essays, who lived and died in Paris...
). Emmanuel Berl
Emmanuel Berl
Emmanuel Berl was a French journalist, historian and essayist. He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern département of Yvelines, and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris. In 1937 he married the singer, composer and film actress Mireille Hartuch; she had nicknamed him "Théodore"...
, best known for writing some of Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
's early speeches, was a first cousin.
Her second husband, Fernand, Marquis de Brinon, was a Catholic aristocrat who distinguished himself with an early scoop interview with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, and became one of the architects of French collaboration after France's catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Nazis in June 1940. As the war progressed, the couple were distanced partly by Lisette's inconvenient Jewishness, and also because of Brinon's long-term affair with his secretary Simone Mittre. Lisette attempted to follow Brinon when the Vichy government fled to exile in the castle of Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
following the Allied liberation. Although she managed to risk death by entering Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, she never reached the castle.
Brinon and her husband were captured by Allied Forces and brought back to stand trial in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. She was imprisoned briefly while her husband was found guilty of treason and executed in 1947. She was a friend of another collaborator, Jacques Benoist-Méchin
Jacques Benoist-Méchin
Jacques Benoist-Méchin was a French far right politician and writer.Although active as both a writer and rightist political figure he did not fully come to prominence until the German occupation of France during World War II, which was somewhat welcomed by the Germanophile...
.
The Marquise de Brinon died in 1982 in a nursing home in the Paris suburb of Montmorency
Montmorency, Val-d'Oise
Montmorency is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Montmorency was the fief of the Montmorency family, one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the French nobility...
.