Robert d'Harcourt
Encyclopedia
Robert d'Harcourt was a French Catholic intellectual, scholar of German culture and anti-Nazi polemicist.
. He was born at Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux
in Seine-et-Marne, the second son and fourth child of Count Pierre d'Harcourt and Adelaide-Alix de Mun. He was the nephew of Albert de Mun, half-brother of his mother.
He studied Germanic literature at university. His doctoral dissertation was on the Swiss poet and novelist Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
.
During World War I d'Harcourt served in the artillery with the rank of sergeant. He was severely wounded twice during the conflict. Eventually taken prisoner, he recounted his experiences in his memoir Souvenirs de captivité et d'évasion d'un camp de Bavière. After the war he obtained the chair of German language and literature at the Catholic Institute of Paris
.
During the Occupation, Robert d'Harcourt became a leading intellectual figure in the Resistance, publishing in the clandestine press. His two sons Anne-Pierre d'Harcourt (1913–1981) and Charles d'Harcourt (1921–1992) were both sent to Buchenwald concentration camp
. They survived the war.
. This group election was caused by many vacancies resulting from the war. He was received on 30 January 1947 by Henry Bordeaux
, with André Bellessort
in the chair. Most of d'Harcourt's later publications were about the culture and politics of post-war Germany under Konrad Adenauer
.
Count Robert d'Harcourt died in 1965, and rests in the cemetery of Pargny-lès-Reims
.
Early life
Robert d'Harcourt was a member of the aristocratic Norman House of HarcourtHouse of Harcourt
The House of Harcourt is a Norman family, descended from the Viking Bernard the Dane and named after its seigneurie of Harcourt in Normandy. Its mottos were "Gesta verbis praeveniant" , "Gesta verbis praevenient" , and "Le bon temps viendra .....
. He was born at Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux
Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux
Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.The commune was created in 1973 by the fusion of three villages: Lunigny, Nesles and Ormeaux....
in Seine-et-Marne, the second son and fourth child of Count Pierre d'Harcourt and Adelaide-Alix de Mun. He was the nephew of Albert de Mun, half-brother of his mother.
He studied Germanic literature at university. His doctoral dissertation was on the Swiss poet and novelist Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer was a Swiss poet and historical novelist, a master of realism chiefly remembered for stirring narrative ballads like "Die Füße im Feuer" .-Biography:...
.
During World War I d'Harcourt served in the artillery with the rank of sergeant. He was severely wounded twice during the conflict. Eventually taken prisoner, he recounted his experiences in his memoir Souvenirs de captivité et d'évasion d'un camp de Bavière. After the war he obtained the chair of German language and literature at the Catholic Institute of Paris
Institut Catholique de Paris
The Institut Catholique de Paris, or the Catholic University of Paris, is a private university located in Paris, France. The institute was founded in 1875, under the name Université Catholique de Paris, by Maurice Le Sage d'Hauteroche d'Hulst....
.
Anti-Nazism
His knowledge of German culture and his anti-Nazi views led him to publish numerous detailed articles attacking the new Nazi regime after Hitler achieved power in 1933. In 1936 he published l'Evangile de la force (The Gospel of Force), his best-known work. It was a harsh attack on Nazism, and particularly drew attention to the indoctrination of young Germans in Nazi ideology. Harcourt stressed the incompatibility between the radical racist nature of Nazi ideology and Christianity.During the Occupation, Robert d'Harcourt became a leading intellectual figure in the Resistance, publishing in the clandestine press. His two sons Anne-Pierre d'Harcourt (1913–1981) and Charles d'Harcourt (1921–1992) were both sent to Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
. They survived the war.
Post-war
After the war he was one of five new members elected on 14 February 1946 to the Académie françaiseAcadémie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
. This group election was caused by many vacancies resulting from the war. He was received on 30 January 1947 by Henry Bordeaux
Henry Bordeaux
Henri Bordeaux was a French writer and lawyer.Bordeaux came from a family of lawyers of Savoy. His grandfather was a magistrate and his father served on the Chambéry bar. During his early life, he relocated between Savoy and Paris and the tensions between provincial and city life influenced his...
, with André Bellessort
André Bellessort
André Bellessort was a French writer.-Biography:Bellessort was a not only a poet and essayist but also a traveller who went to Chile, Bolivia and Japan....
in the chair. Most of d'Harcourt's later publications were about the culture and politics of post-war Germany under Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
.
Count Robert d'Harcourt died in 1965, and rests in the cemetery of Pargny-lès-Reims
Pargny-lès-Reims
Pargny-lès-Reims is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Marne department...
.
Works
- C. F. Meyer, sa vie, son œuvre (1825–1898), 1913
- Souvenirs de captivité et d'évasions 1915–1918, 1922
- La Jeunesse de Schiller, 1928
- L'Éducation sentimentale de Goethe, 1931
- Goethe et l'Art de vivre, 1935
- L'Évangile de la force, le visage de la jeunesse du IIIe Reich, 1936
- Catholiques d'Allemagne, 1938
- Le Nazisme peint par lui-même, 1946
- Les Allemands d'aujourd'hui, 1948
- La Religion de Goethe, 1949
- Visage de l'Allemagne actuelle, 1950
- Konrad Adenauer, 1955
- L'Allemagne d'Adenauer, 1958
- L'Allemagne et l'Europe, Allemagne européenne, 1960
- L'Allemagne, d'Adenauer à ErhardLudwig ErhardLudwig Wilhelm Erhard was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery , particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer...
, 1964