Maurras, Charles

Maurras, Charles (-Marie-Photius)

(born April 20, 1868, Martigues, France—died Nov. 16, 1952, Tours) French writer and political theorist. In 1891 he cofounded a group of poets opposed to the Symbolist movement and later known as the école romane. An ardent monarchist, he cofounded L'Action Française (1899), a review whose “integral nationalism” promoted the idea of the supremacy of the state; it became the party organ of the reactionary Action Française. He also wrote philosophical short stories and poetry. During World War II he was a strong supporter of the government of Philippe Pétain, for which he was imprisoned (1945–52).