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George Montandon

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George Montandon
Born
George-Alexis Montandon

19 April 1879
Died30 August 1944 (aged 65)
Cause of deathExecution by shooting
NationalitySwiss French
OccupationAnthropologist
Known forLe Juif et la France
De Loys's ape

George-Alexis Montandon (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ mɔ̃tɑ̃dɔ̃]; 19 April 1879 – 30 August 1944) was a Swiss French anthropologist. He was a proponent of scientific racism prior to World War II. During the German occupation of France, he was responsible for the anti-Semitic exhibition Le Juif et la France.

George Montandon helped to perpetuate the hoax of De Loys's ape and fought for it be scientifically recognised as a new species. He was heavily ridiculed for his hypothesis. Today, De Loys's ape is virtually unanimously regarded as a hoax.[1]

Ethnologist at the Musée de l'Homme, theoretician of racism, collaborator and anti-Semite, he was one of the guarantors of a so-called "scientific" racism before the Second World War. However, even under Vichy, he and the movement to which he belonged with René Martial remained marginal in the French intellectual world.[2]

George Montandon was an advocate for racist eugenics theories. He and his wife were killed by the French Resistance for collaborating with the Nazis.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Saunders, Christopher "Things That Are Not: Georges Montandon's Malicious Monkey Business," The Avocado [1]
  2. ^ Culture nazie ? : la tentation léthale des intellectuels du XXe siècle = Cultura nazista ? : la tentazione letale degli intelletuali del Novecento. Andrea Cavazzini. Milan: Mimesis. 2007. ISBN 978-88-8483-462-1. OCLC 496763277.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "Sewasew | Montandon, George Alexis".