Gabriel Péri

Gabriel Péri (Peri) (1902, Toulon—December 15 1941, Fort Mont-Valérien) was a prominent French Communist journalist and politician.

He was born to a Corsican family. Forced to give up his studies at an early age, he immersed himself in political activities, and wrote for newspapers in Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles. At the age of twenty-two, Péri became departmental manager of Foreign Politics at "l'Humanité". He was elected Deputy for Argenteuil in 1932 (he was re-elected in 1936).

In the French National Assembly, Péri distinguished himself as an expert in the field of diplomatic and international relations and was a strident anti-fascist. He denounced both Benito Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia and France’s non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Péri was also a prominent opponent of the Nazi regime in Germany. After the Fall of France in 1940, the country was placed under Nazi occupation. Arrested on May 18, 1941, Péri was shot later in the same year at Fort Mont-Valérien. Albert Camus witnessed his execution, an event which he later said crystallized his own revolt against the Germans.

Many schools and streets have been named after Gabriel Péri, as well as a Paris Metro station. Paul Éluard wrote a poem in his tribute.

References

* [http://beaucoudray.free.fr/peri.htm Lettre d'adieu de Gabriel Péri]
* [http://www.gabrielperi.fr/article.php3?id_article=64 Gabriel Péri: a free and lucid mind]
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