Massis was born in the18th arrondissement ofParis, and attendedLycée Condorcet andUniversity of Paris. He began his career as an essayist and critic in his early twenties, with works such asComment Émile Zola Composait ses Romans (1905),Le Puits de Pyrrhon (1907), andLa Pensée de Maurice Barrès (1909).[2] Together with his friendAlfred de Tarde, he published essays commenting on the French university system and the generation of 1912.[3]
Massis converted toCatholicism in 1913 and, followingWorld War I, called for a revival of the French spirit and Catholicism; from early on, he was a follower ofCharles Maurras and theAction Française. From 1920 he served as editor of the newly formedRevue Universelle, a magazine closely associated withAction Française which worked to spread Christian political philosophy. He published two volumes ofJugements that critically analysed the moral teachings of numerous writers, such asErnest Renan andAndré Gide.
Massis' political writings expressed his concerns over what he viewed as threats to post-World War I French society, includingBolshevism and Orientalmysticism.[2] Together withRobert Brasillach he wroteLes Cadets de l'Alcazar (1936; in English asThe Cadets of the Alcazar, 1937), where he expressed support ofGeneral Franco and theNationalists in the ongoingSpanish Civil War. He visitedPortugal in 1938, expressing admiration for the regime ofAntónio de Oliveira Salazar. In 1939,Chefs ("Chiefs"), a collection of interviews with Franco, Salazar andBenito Mussolini,fascist dictator ofItaly, was published. However, Massis condemnedAdolf Hitler and theNazi regime in Germany, as he shared the Germanophobe views of theAction Française.[4]
On 23 January 1941, Massis was made a member of the National Council (parliament) ofVichy France.[5] He was also decorated with theOrder of the Francisque. While involved in the Vichy Government duringWorld War II, Massis refused to collaborate with the Nazis. After the war, he was arrested and imprisoned inFresnes Prison in December 1944. After being released after only one month in January 1945, he went on to work as an editor forPlon.[6] He devoted himself to biographical studies ofErnest Renan,Maurice Barrès, Charles Maurras and António de Oliveira Salazar. Still a follower of theintegralist and nationalist philosophy of theAction Française after the war, his writings from this period reflect his continued disdain of Nazism in Germany and Bolshevism in theSoviet Union.
Massis was elected to theAcadémie française in 1960.[7] Together with other French conservative intellectuals, he signed a manifesto "of resistance to abandonment" in October 1961, a counter-manifesto to theManifesto of the 121 against theAlgerian War. He died in Paris on 16 April 1970.[7]
^abHeyer, Astrid (1997). "Massis, Henri". In Chevalier, Tracy (ed.).Encyclopedia of the Essay. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 543–544.ISBN1884964303.
^Mazgaj, Paul (1991). "Defending the West: The Cultural and Generational Politics of Henri Massis".Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques.17 (2):103–123.JSTOR41298929.
^Leymarie, Michel; Dard, Olivier; Guérin, Jeanyves, eds. (2012).Maurrasisme et littérature: L'Action française. Culture, société, politique (IV). Villeneuve-d'Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion. p. 149.ISBN978-2-7574-0401-0.
^Sorel, Patricia (2016).Plon: Le sens de l'histoire (1833–1962). Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes. p. 227.ISBN9782753543683.
^abHeyer, Astrid (2004). "Massis, Henri". In Murray, Christopher (ed.).Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 465–6.ISBN9781579583842.
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