Gabriel Péri
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Gabriel Péri (Peri) (9 February 1902 — 15 December 1941) was a prominent French Communist journalist and politician, and member of the French Resistance. He was executed in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.
Early life
Péri was born in Toulon to a Corsican family. Forced to give up his studies at an early age, the First World War and Russian Revolution caused had a profound effect on him and his involvement in revolutionary politics. He immersed himself in political activities, and wrote for newspapers in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.[1]
Career and execution
At the age of twenty-two, Péri became departmental manager of Foreign Politics at l'Humanité. He was elected deputy to the National Assembly for Argenteuil in 1932 and re-elected in 1936.
In the French National Assembly, Péri distinguished himself as an expert in the field of diplomatic and international relations and was a strident anti-fascist. He denounced both Benito Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia and France's non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Péri was also a prominent opponent of the Nazi regime in Germany. On the 21 January 1940, he was stripped of his mandate to the National Assembly and on 3 april that year sentenced to 5 years in military prison, fined and stripped of his civic and political rights for re-constituting a legally dissolved organization. [2]. He went into hiding as a result.
After the Fall of France in 1940, the country was placed under Nazi occupation. Arrested by French police on 18 May 1941, Péri was jailed at Fort Mont-Valérien, which was under the control of German forces. He was executed there on the 15 December with a group of 70 men. Albert Camus learned of Péri's execution while staying in Lyon,[3] an event which he later said crystallized his own revolt against the Germans.
Tributes
Many schools and streets have been named after Gabriel Péri, as well as a Paris and a Lyon Metro station. Paul Éluard and Louis Aragon wrote poems in his tribute (titled "Gabriel Péri" and "Ballade de Celui Qui Chanta Dans les Supplices" ["Ballad to Him who Sings While Being Tortured"], respectively).
References
- ^ Mignard, Margaux. "Gabriel Péri – 1902 - 1941". Lysias Partners Société d'Avocats. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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timestamp mismatch; 5 January 2021 suggested (help) - ^ "Condamnation des ex-députés communistes". Le Matin. 09/04/1940. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
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(help) - ^ Foley, John (2014-12-05). Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt. Routledge. p. 186 citation 51. ISBN 9781317492719.
51 The passage quoted concludes with the following: "And, to be precise, I recall the day when the waves of revolt within me reached their climax. It was a morning, in Lyon, and I had just read in the newspaper of the execution of Gabriel Péri" (first reply to d'Astier, "Où est la mystification?", June 1948, E: 355-6). Gabriel Peri was a leader of the French Communist Party, executed by the Nazis in December 1941. Cf. Tarrou's account of the death penalty in TP.
External links
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