Robert Poulet | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1893-09-04)4 September 1893 |
| Died | 6 October 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 96) Marly-le-Roi, France |
| Occupations | journalist, literary critic, writer |
Robert Poulet (4 September 1893 – 6 October 1989) was aBelgian writer, literary critic and journalist. Politically he was aMaurras-inspired integral nationalist who became associated with acollaborationist newspaper during the occupation of Belgium byNazi Germany.
Educated at the Faculté des Mines in his hometown, Poulet served in theFirst World War and before taking odd jobs in Belgium andFrance.[1] He began writing for several literary reviews in the 1920s and published his first novel, thesurrealistHandji, in 1931.[2] He became a part of the 'Groupe du Lundi' that built up aroundFranz Hellens, which attacked the regional novels prevalent in France then and endorsedmagic realism instead.[3] As a literary critic, he became noted for rejecting female authors, dismissing them asmidinettes en diable.[4]
Poulet was involved in politics during the early 1930s when he was a member of thecorporatist study groupRéaction.[5] Although not altogether enamoured ofNazism he became the 'political director' ofLe Nouveau Journal, a collaborationist paper launched byPaul Colin in October 1940.[5] A strong supporter of Belgian independence, he was heavily influenced byCharles Maurras and theAction Française and by 1941, he agreed withRaymond de Becker that a corporatist, authoritarian party of state should be created. His idea was soon abandoned however when the Nazis decide to instead backLéon Degrelle andRexism, a philosophy to which Poulet was opposed.[6]
Despite all of this Poulet never opposed the Nazis and frequently wrote in support of them during his time atLe Nouveau Journal.[7] He also praised them in their war against theSoviet Union due to his own strictanti-communism.[8] He was sentenced to death in October 1945 for collaboration, after serving six years in prison, ostensibly on 'death row,' he was released and allowed to return to France.[9]
Following his move to France, he published several autobiographical novels in which he sought to justify his war-time collaboration as merely trying to safeguard the monarchy and Belgian independence. He would also act as a reader atÉditions Denoël andPlon and write for thefar right journalRivarol, the Catholic paperPrésent andEcrits de Paris, amongst other publications.[10] He was a close friend and supporter ofRobert Faurisson and joined him in advocatingHolocaust denial.[11] Despite Poulet's controversial opinions, famedThe Adventures of Tintin cartoonistHergé, who worked for Poulet during the war, maintained a lifelong friendship with Poulet until Hergé died in 1983.[11] Poulet's autobiography,Ce n'est pas un vie, appeared in 1976. He died in 1989.
