Dominique Venner

On 21 May 2013, about 16:00, Venner committed suicide by firearm in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, which led to the evacuation of approximately 1,500 people from the cathedral. He had been an opponent of Muslim immigration to France and Europe, as well as what he believed to be the Americanization of European values and — most recently — the legalization of same-sex marriage in France. Despite the choice of Notre Dame as the place of his suicide, Venner was not a Christian. He was a practicing pagan but also an admirer of Christian civilization.

In 2002, Venner wrote Histoire et tradition des Européens (History and Tradition of the Europeans), in which he set out what he believed to be the common cultural bases of European civilisation, and outlined his theory of "traditionalism" (a concept that, inter alia, assesses the specificities of each society and civilisation).

In 1995, and with the advice of his friend François de Grossouvre, Venner published Histoire critique de la Résistance (Critical History of the Resistance), which highlighted the strong influence and presence of French nationalists in the Resistance (often called "vichysto-résistants"). The work was criticised by some for failing to probe Marshal Philippe Pétain's attitude towards the Resistance.

Venner served as editor in chief of the revue Enquête sur l'histoire (Study of History, or Historical Inquest) until its dissolution in the late 1990s. In 2002, he created La Nouvelle Revue d'Histoire (The New Historical Revue, temporarily renamed the NRH in 2006), a bimonthly magazine devoted to historical topics. The Revue has featured Bernard Lugan, Jean Tulard, Aymeric Chauprade, Jean Mabire, François-Georges Dreyfus, Jacqueline de Romilly and former ministers Max Gallo and Alain Decaux. He was a co-host of a radio program on Radio Courtoisie.

Venner was a specialist regarding weaponry and hunting and wrote several books on these subjects. His principal historical works were: Baltikum (1974), Le Blanc Soleil des vaincus (The White Sun of the Vanquished) (1975), Le Cœur rebelle (The Rebel Heart) (1994), Gettysburg (1995), Les Blancs et les Rouges (The Whites and the Reds) (1997), Histoire de la Collaboration (History of the Collaboration) (2000) and Histoire du terrorisme (History of Terrorism) (2002). His Histoire de l'Armée rouge (History of the Red Army) won the Prix Broquette-Gonin of history awarded by the Académie française in 1981.

In January 1963, he created with Alain de Benoist a movement and magazine called Europe-Action, which he later led. He went on to found the Éditions Saint-Just, which operated in tandem with Europe-Action, and which was composed of nationalists, Europeanists, members of the Fédération des étudiants nationalistes ("Federation of Nationalist Students"), former OAS members, young militants and former collaborators like Lucien Rebatet. He was a member of Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne (GRECE) (Research and Study Group for European Civilization) from its beginning until the 1970s. He also created, with Thierry Maulnier, the Institut d'études occidentales (IEO) (Institute of Western Studies), and its revue, Cité-Liberté (City-Liberty), founded in 1970. The IEO was an enterprise that worked in parallel and in tandem with GRECE, and the organisation attracted numerous intellectuals, including Robert Aron, Pierre Debray-Ritzen, Thomas Molnar, Jules Monnerot, Jules Romains, Louis Rougier, Raymond Ruyer and Paul Sérant. The IEO was anti-communist, pitted itself against what it saw as "mental subversion" and supported Western values. The IEO dissolved in 1971, the same year Venner ceased all political activities in order to focus on his career as an historian.

Upon his release from prison in the autumn of 1962, Venner wrote a manifesto entitled Pour une critique positive (Towards a positive critique), which has been compared by some to Vladimir Lenin's What is to be done?, as it became a "foundational text of a whole segment of the ultra-right". In the manifesto, Venner explored the reasons for the failure of the April 1961 coup and the divide that existed between "nationals" ("nationaux") and "nationalists" ("nationalistes") and called for the creation of a single revolutionary and nationalist organisation, which would be "monolithic and hierarchical" and composed of young, "disciplined and devoted" nationalist militants who would be ready for combat.

The son of an architect who had been a member of Doriot's Parti populaire français (the PPF), Venner volunteered to fight in the Algerian War, and served until October 1956. Upon his return to France he joined the Jeune Nation (Young Nation) movement. Following the violent suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution he participated in the ransacking of the office of the French Communist Party on 7 November 1956. Along with Pierre Sidos, he helped found the short-lived Parti Nationaliste (Nationalist Party) and was involved with the Mouvement populaire du 13-mai (Popular Movement of May 13) led by General Chassin. As a member of the Organisation armée secrète, he was jailed for 18 months in La Santé Prison as a political undesirable. He was freed in 1962.

Dominique Venner was born on April 16, 1935 in Paris, France.