Robert Aron
Robert Aron | |
---|---|
Born | Le Vésinet, France | 25 May 1898
Died | 19 April 1975 Paris, France | (aged 76)
Nationality | French |
Education | Lycée Condorcet |
Robert Aron (1898–1975) was a French historian and writer who wrote a number of books on politics and
Early life and career
Robert Aron was born in Le Vésinet on 25 May 1898 to an upper-class Jewish family from eastern France.[1]:132 He attended the Lycée Condorcet and served in the French Army during World War I. He was wounded in action in 1918.
Interwar Period
In 1922, while at university studying for a degree in Languages and Classics, Aron was the President of the Cercle International d'Etudiants.
Théâtre Alfred Jarry (1926-1928)
His interest in avant-garde literature and art and its most modern and provocative expressions during the
the Surrealists, whatever attributes they may have, by remaining within the literary or artistic domain, incur no risks except that which is most sought after as a consecration of their childish acts, namely a short stay in the police cells.[3]
For Aron, the work of the Théâtre Alfred Jarry, 'provoked the only dangerous and disturbances of a Surrealist nature' in the last two years, and were almost 'Revolutionary disturbances'.[3]
Ordre Nouveau (1929-1938)
In 1927, he became reacquainted with a fellow former student of the Lycée Condorcet,
World War II
In 1940, the advent of
Soon after he was able to escape to
Postwar Period
In 1950, he undertook an important work of historical research on contemporary French history: Histoire de Vichy [History of Vichy] (1954). Nicholas Birns, discussing the English translation, termed it a "neglected but pivotal book".[5] The original French edition was over 700 pages and relied mainly on the testimonies of eye-witnesses and on the records of the High Court.[6] It was the standard work of reference on Vichy for more than fifteen years and the original edition sold 53,000 copies between 1954 and 1981.[7] Aron argued that in Philippe Pétain's view "the armistice was not and could not be anything more than a pause, allowing France to subsist temporarily while awaiting the outcome of the war between England and the Axis...for Laval, the armistice was supposed to have paved the way for a reversal of alliances".[8] Aron therefore argued that there were "two Vichy's", Pétain's and Laval's. He also claimed that the Vichy government played a "double game" between the Allies and the Axis by holding secret talks with the Allies while officially collaborating.[8] Aron attacked the "crimes" committed by the Resistance and he claimed that they had summarily executed "thirty to forty thousand people".[9] Charles de Gaulle wrote to Aron disputing this figure, citing 10,000 as the more accurate estimate.[9] According to Henry Rousso, Aron's book was made obsolete by Robert Paxton's Vichy France (1972).[10]
His Histoire de la Libération (1959, "History of the Liberation") was translated into English as 'De Gaulle Before Paris' (trans. Humphrey Hare, Putnam 1962) and he also wrote the Histoire de l'Epuration (1967–1975, "History of the Purges").
An agnostic during the 1930s, Aron returned to his Jewish faith after 1945 and participated in formal Jewish-Christian dialogue. His book "The God of the Beginnings" (New York: Morrow, 1966) explores the origins of religion and its development in the traditions of the Old Testament (e.g., Abraham, Moses, the Sinai Covenant). He also wrote books about Jesus's identity as a Jew, including Jesus of Nazareth: The Hidden Years (New York: Morrow, 1962), and The Jewish Jesus (New York Maryknoll, 1971). In 1974, he was elected a member of the
His final work, Léopold III ou le choix impossible (Leopold III or the Impossible Choice), looked at this history of the Belgian monarch
References
- ^ ISSN 1474-0672.
- ^ ISSN 1475-4533.
- ^ ISBN 9780714501727.
- ^ Académie Française.
- ^ Nicholas Birns. "History and testimony: Robert Aron and the Vichy experience. (The Shoah). - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
- ^ Henry Rousso, The Vichy Syndrome. History and Memory in France since 1944 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1991), pp. 245-246.
- ^ Rousso, p. 246, p. 275.
- ^ a b Rousso, p. 246.
- ^ a b Rousso, p. 247.
- ^ Rousso, p. 255, p. 269.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
Sources
- "Robert Aron". Académie Française. Retrieved 2 January 2017.