Jean-Pierre Maxence

Maxence was a leading figure within the so-called Jeune Droite tendency and was associated with other Catholic writers such as Jean de Fabrègues and René Vincent.

[1] Born in Paris as Pierre Godmé, he adopted his name after a character in Ernest Psichari's book Le Voyage du centurion.

[4] He was critical of the far right group of writers based around the newspaper Je suis partout and had a personal hatred of Germany, although he was equally disdainful of Léon Blum.

[4] A devout Roman Catholic, his own writings revealed an empathy towards a fascism rooted firmly in Catholicism, effectively a French version of Rexism.

[4] His public support for Vichy meant that he fell under a cloud after the war and he went into exile in Switzerland where he became director of Centre Supérieure de Philosophie in Geneva.