Bernard Faÿ
Encyclopedia
Bernard Faÿ was a French historian of Franco-American relations and an anti-Masonic
polemicist. He knew the United States at first hand, having studied at Harvard
, and translated into French an excerpt of Gertrude Stein
's The Making of Americans and wrote his view of the United States as it was at the beginning of Franklin D. Roosevelt
's administration. He also published studies of Benjamin Franklin
and George Washington
. Faÿ was a friend of Gertrude Stein and of the American composer Virgil Thomson
, who owed to Fay his access to French intellectual circles, for Faÿ knew most of the people in musical and literary Paris. In 1935 Fay wrote La Franc-Maçonnerie au XVIIIe siècle, soon translated as Revolution and Freemasonry 1680-1800, where he asserted that the Freemasons were responsible for the French Revolution
.
At the beginning of the Second World War he was a professor at the Collège de France
. He replaced Julien Cain
as general administrator of the Bibliothèque Nationale during the occupation, and Director of the anti-Masonic service of the Vichy Government
. During his tenure of this office, his secretary Gueydan de Roussel was in charge of preparing the card indexes containing 60,000 names drawn from archives seized from secret societies, which Marshal Philippe Pétain
was convinced were at the heart of all France's troubles; lists of names of Masons were released to the official gazette of the Vichy government for publication, and many Catholic papers copied these lists in order to induce public opprobrium. Fay edited and published during the four years of the Occupation a monthly review Les Documents maçonniques ("Masonic Documents") which published historical studies of Freemasonry together with essays on the role of Freemasonry in society and frank anti-Masonic propaganda. Fay was reputedly responsible for the death of many Freemasons, and nearly 1,000 deportations to concentration camps in Germany.
Despite his anti-Semitism
, Faÿ, who was suspected of being a Gestapo agent for much of the occupation, had protected Stein and Alice B. Toklas
during the time. Stein wrote a letter on Faÿ's behalf when he was tried as a collaborator following the Liberation. In 1946, a French court condemned him to dégradation nationale
and forced labour for life, but the historian managed to escape to Switzerland five years later, funding to facilitate his prison breakout coming from Alice B. Toklas. Appointed to an instructorship at the Institut de la Langue française in Fribourg
, Switzerland
, he was later forced to resign in the face of student protests. He taught French literature to American junior-year-abroad students in the 1960s at the Villa des Fougères in Fribourg, run by the Dominican sisters of Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, Illinois.
Barbara Will's book, Unlikely Collaboration: Gertrude Stein, Bernard Faÿ, and the Vichy Dilemma," was published in September 2011 by Columbia University Press.
In 2009, Gallimard published a book on Faÿ: Antoine Compagnon's Le Cas Bernard Faÿ.
Prefaces
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
polemicist. He knew the United States at first hand, having studied at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and translated into French an excerpt of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's The Making of Americans and wrote his view of the United States as it was at the beginning of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's administration. He also published studies of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
and George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. Faÿ was a friend of Gertrude Stein and of the American composer Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
, who owed to Fay his access to French intellectual circles, for Faÿ knew most of the people in musical and literary Paris. In 1935 Fay wrote La Franc-Maçonnerie au XVIIIe siècle, soon translated as Revolution and Freemasonry 1680-1800, where he asserted that the Freemasons were responsible for the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
At the beginning of the Second World War he was a professor at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
. He replaced Julien Cain
Julien Cain
Julien Cain was the general administrator of the Bibliothèque nationale de France before the Occupation of France by Nazi Germany....
as general administrator of the Bibliothèque Nationale during the occupation, and Director of the anti-Masonic service of the Vichy Government
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. During his tenure of this office, his secretary Gueydan de Roussel was in charge of preparing the card indexes containing 60,000 names drawn from archives seized from secret societies, which Marshal Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
was convinced were at the heart of all France's troubles; lists of names of Masons were released to the official gazette of the Vichy government for publication, and many Catholic papers copied these lists in order to induce public opprobrium. Fay edited and published during the four years of the Occupation a monthly review Les Documents maçonniques ("Masonic Documents") which published historical studies of Freemasonry together with essays on the role of Freemasonry in society and frank anti-Masonic propaganda. Fay was reputedly responsible for the death of many Freemasons, and nearly 1,000 deportations to concentration camps in Germany.
Despite his anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, Faÿ, who was suspected of being a Gestapo agent for much of the occupation, had protected Stein and Alice B. Toklas
Alice B. Toklas
Alice B. Toklas was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century.-Early life, relationship with Gertrude Stein:...
during the time. Stein wrote a letter on Faÿ's behalf when he was tried as a collaborator following the Liberation. In 1946, a French court condemned him to dégradation nationale
Dégradation nationale
The dégradation nationale was a sentence introduced in France after the Liberation. It was applied during the épuration légale which followed the fall of the Vichy regime....
and forced labour for life, but the historian managed to escape to Switzerland five years later, funding to facilitate his prison breakout coming from Alice B. Toklas. Appointed to an instructorship at the Institut de la Langue française in Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, he was later forced to resign in the face of student protests. He taught French literature to American junior-year-abroad students in the 1960s at the Villa des Fougères in Fribourg, run by the Dominican sisters of Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, Illinois.
Barbara Will's book, Unlikely Collaboration: Gertrude Stein, Bernard Faÿ, and the Vichy Dilemma," was published in September 2011 by Columbia University Press.
In 2009, Gallimard published a book on Faÿ: Antoine Compagnon's Le Cas Bernard Faÿ.
History and literary history
- 1925 : Bibliographie critique des ouvrages français relatifs aux États-Unis (1770-1800)
- 1925 : L'esprit révolutionnaire en France et aux États-Unis à la fin du XVIIIe siècle
- 1925 : Panorama de la littérature contemporaine
- 1926 : L'Empire américain et sa démocratie en 1926
- 1927 : Faites vos jeux
- 1928 : Vue cavalière de la littérature américaine contemporaine
- 1929 : Benjamin Franklin, bourgeois d'Amérique
- 1930 : Le Comte Arthur de Gobineau et la Grèce
- 1930 : Essai sur la poésie
- 1932 : George Washington, gentilhomme
- 1932 : La Gloire du Comte Arthur de Gobineau
- 1935 : La Franc-maçonnerie et la révolution intellectuelle du XVIIIe siècle
- 1937 : Les forces de l'Espagne : voyage à Salamanque
- 1939 : Civilisation américaine
- 1939 : L'Homme, mesure de l'histoire. La recherche du temps
- 1943 : L'Agonie de l'Empereur (récit historique)
- 1952 : De la prison de ce monde, journal, prières et pensées (1944-1952)
- 1959 : La grande révolution
- 1961 : L'École de l'imprécation ou Les Prophètes catholiques du dernier siècle (1850-1950)
- 1961 : Louis XVI ou la fin d'un monde
- 1962 : L'aventure coloniale
- 1965 : Naissance d'un monstre, l'opinion publique
- 1966 : Les Précieux
- 1969 : La Guerre des trois fous, Hitler, Staline, Roosevelt
- 1970 : L'Église de Judas ?
- 1970 : Beaumarchais ou les Fredaines de Figaro
- 1974 : Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
ou le Rêve de la vie - 1978 : Rivarol et la Révolution
Prefaces
- Le duc de Montmorency-Luxembourg, premier baron chrétien de France, fondateur du Grand Orient : sa vie et ses archives de Paul Filleul
Pseudonyms
Bernard Faÿ used the pen name Elphège du Croquet de l'Esq for the work :- "Pensées, maximes et apophtègmes choisis des moralistes français et étrangers à l'usage de la jeunesse studieuse" (1954) for Du conquistador in 1957, with a preface by Bernard Faÿ.
Translations
- 1933 : Co-translation and preface for the French edition of Gertrude Stein'sGertrude SteinGertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family's ProgressThe Making of AmericansThe Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family's Progress is a modernist novel by Gertrude Stein. The novel traces the genealogy, history, and psychological development of members of the fictional Hersland and Dehning families... - 1934 : Translation for the French edition of Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasThe Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasThe Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is a 1933 book by Gertrude Stein, written in the guise of an autobiography authored by Alice B. Toklas, who was her lover.-Summary:-Before I came to Paris:...
External links
- Masonicinfo.com:Bernard Fay, a negative view.