Pierre-Édouard de Pierrefeux

Jean de Pierrefeu was a Pied-Noir, a French-born in Algeria and registered under his mother’s name Maurin. One year later he was recognized by his father and was given his name. As a pen name, he used Jean de Pierrefeu.

He started a career as a journalist in 1905 and as a staunch nationalist worked for the weekly L’Opinion. In 1914, he was mobilized and wounded the following year. Deemed unfit to resume combat, he was assigned to the army’s information section, where he was in charge of writing the official press communiqués about the fighting.

After the war, de Pierrefeu continued to work for L’Opinion and joined the editorial board of the daily L’Éclair. He published amongst others several controversial books criticizing the decisions of the French command in World War I based on his experiences in the General Headquarters. De Pierrefeu was a fervent supporter of Marshal Pétain and directed the journal Les Cahiers de la Jeune France, organe de la rénovation nationale (__The Notebooks of Young France, organ of national renewal __).

After experiencing the 1924 Olympics in Paris, de Pierrefeu already criticized the gigantism of the Games: “I am convinced that it will be necessary to proceed sooner or later to a reconcentration to purify the Olympic idea and to restore to the Games a harmonious, simple and beautiful line.”