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Saint-Loup | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marc Augier (1908-03-19)19 March 1908 |
| Died | 16 December 1990(1990-12-16) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Writer |
Marc Augier (French pronunciation:[maʁkoʒje]; 19 March 1908 – 16 December 1990), better known by thepen nameSaint-Loup (pronounced[sɛ̃lu]), was a Frenchanti-capitalist, later turned intofascist, politician,writer and mountaineer.
Augier's earliest direct political involvement began in theRepublican-Socialist Party, although the main focus of his youthful energies was theCentre laïc des auberges, a non-political group central to the development ofyouth hostels in France.[1] Although its leaderJean Giono was not a fascist, it was Augier's fascination with Giono'sprimitivism that eventually led the young Augier to adopt that ideology.[1] He was also a supporter ofpaganism against Christian "decadence".
Augier formed his own group, theLes Jeunes de l'Europe Nouvelle, in 1941, attracting 4000 members and affiliating to theGroupe Collaboration.[1] He became associated with theBreton nationalistAlphonse de Châteaubriant, a leading figure in the Groupe, and was for a time business manager of his journalLa Gerbe.[1]
Augier then joined the political bureau ofJacques Doriot'sFrench Popular Party (PPF). He enlisted in theLegion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism and served on theEastern Front whilst also launching and editing the group's paperLe Combattant Européen.[1] He served in both the LVF and theFrench Waffen SS as a war correspondent. He was also responsible for the French Waffen SS' official organ,Devenir ("To become" or "Becoming"). However Augier, who still supported economic socialism and hoped thatNazism would take seriously the 'socialism' part of its name, grew disillusioned by the distinct lack ofanti-capitalism amongst theSS men with whom he served.[1]
In 1945 he went underground and publishedFace Nord ("North Face") under the pseudonym M-A de Saint-Loup to pay for his passage to Argentina. The book had some success in France. InArgentina he acted as a technical adviser toJuan Perón and also enlisted in theArgentine Army, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[1] He also acted asEva Peron's ski instructor.[2]
He was pardoned and returned to France in 1953. Once back in France he publishedLa Nuit commence au Cap Horn ("The Night begins in Cap Horn") as Saint-Loup. He may have won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for the book butLe Figaro Littéraire exposed Augier as the true author. Of the entire jury onlyColette refused to retract her vote for Saint-Loup during the ensuing uproar.[3]
Saint-Loup continued to work as an author and journalist, writing several books about the LVF (Les Volontaires; "The Volunteers") and both the French (Les Hérétiques; "The Heretics",Les Nostalgiques; "The Nostalgics") and Belgian Waffen SS (Les SS de la Toison d'or; "The SS of the Golden Fleece"). His writing was marked by a pursuit of adventure, the desire to surpass the self and an antipathy to Christian philosophy. He was an apologist for the foreign SS volunteers with whom he had served. He published several works about regionalist movements and about man's struggle to survive in wild and savage environments. He was also fascinated by cars and motorised transport and wrote biographies ofLouis Renault andMarius Berliet. His last novel,La République du Mont-Blanc ("The Republic of Mont-Blanc"), published in 1982, was about the survival of a small Savoyard community that took refuge on the mountain to escape intermixing and decadence.
Saint-Loup influenced certain pagan and far-right authors such asPierre Vial andJean Mabire.
He would later return to France where he worked closely withRené Binet whilst also acting as president ofDominique Venner'sComité France-Rhodesia.[1] He was featured heavily in France's far right journals until his death.[1] He continues to be quoted and translated in far-right circles long after his death.[4]
