Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac

Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac
Born	(1917-01-22)22 January 1917 Colombes, France
Died	8 April 2015(2015-04-08) (aged 98) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Historian

Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac CBE (22 January 1917 – 8 April 2015) was a French journalist, a member of the French Resistance and a historian.^[1] During World War II he directed the Free French propaganda radio broadcasts to Europe.^[2] After the war he helped create France's state-owned publishing house, La Documentation Française.^[2]

Early life

Crémieux was born to a middle class Jewish family in the Colombes suburb of Paris.^[3] His political awareness was raised in high school by his uncle Benjamin Crémieux (1888-1944), a literary critic.^[4] Through his uncle, Crémieux met and was influenced by the anti-authoritarian surrealism of André Malraux and the liberal internationalism of Stefan Zweig. ^{[citation needed]} He graduated from the Lycée Condorcet in 1933. But it was first during a school vacation in 1931 that he visited Germany and in subsequent trips saw first-hand the work of the Nazi Party. In 1935, he joined, and became the youngest member of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes (CVIA) which spearheaded the unification of left-wing politics in France.^[5]

During the Second World War he served as General Charles de Gaulle's 'propaganda chief in London'.^[4]

Honours

2016: Knight Grand Cross in the Legion of Honour.^[6]

Notes and references

1. "Mort de Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac, grande voix de la France libre". Le Monde (in French).
2. Thomas, Eve (14 April 2015). "Jean-Louis Cremieux-Brilhac: Resistance activist and historian who directed Free France radio broadcasts from wartime London". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015.
3. Jackson, Julian (2015-04-19). "Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
4. "Jean Louis Crémieux Brilhac". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
5. de Saint Victor, Jacques (9 April 2015). "L'historien et résistant Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac est mort". Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 14 April 2015.
6. http://www.legiondhonneur.fr/sites/default/files/promotion/lh_20150101.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

Further reading

• Winock, Julien (2019). Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac: Servir la France, servir l'État. Paris: Documentation française. ISBN 978-2111459427.

External links

• Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac in The Guardian
• Cremieux-Brilhac: A farewell to France's war broadcaster at BBC News