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Title: Georges Albertini papers
Date (inclusive): 1938-1986
Collection Number: 80104
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
French
Physical Description:
16 manuscript boxes
(6.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, and other writings, relating to political conditions in France, communism in France,
international communism, and anti-communist movements.
Creator:
Albertini, Georges, 1911-1983
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Initally acquired in 1980.
[Identification of item], Georges Albertini papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1911 | Born, Chalon-sur-Saône, France |
| 1932 | Joins the French Socialist Party |
| 1942-1944 | Secretary-General, Rassemblement Natonal Populaire |
| 1944 | Tried and sentenced for collaboration with German occupation |
| Cabinet secretary for Marcel Dé, Minister of Labor in Vichy government | |
| 1945-1948 | Imprisoned |
| 1949 | Meets Boris Souvarine, who becomes his associate |
| 1949-1983 | Edits and publishes the Bulletin d'études et d'informations politiques internationales, which in 1956 becomes Est-Ouest |
| 1951 | Amnestied by French government |
| 1969-1974 | Advisor to French president Georges Pompidou |
| 1983 | Died |
Acquired in 1967, with major increments received in 1980 and 1985, the Georges Albertini papers in the Hoover Institution
Library & Archives consist largely of Albertini's extensive files on French political life over three decades following World
War II, with a major emphasis on the role of the French Communist Party during this period.
The principal biography of Albertini is entitled
L'homme de l'ombre, or "the man of the shadows," and this seems an apt description of Albertini's role as a chronicler and confidant, a man
operating in the corridors as an adviser to leading figures in the French establishment while pursuing a consistently anti-Communist
agenda as the editor and publisher of his own political newsletter and journal.
Given his past as a collaborator with the German occupiers of France, activity for which he was tried and convicted, Albertini
would at first glance seem to be an unlikely candidate for the role of political insider in postwar France. However, he emerged
from prison with his connections to the French political elite largely intact, and with a clear conception of his part as
purveyor of information on the French Communist Party to conservative and socialist opponents of the communists. Moreover,
in choosing Boris Souvarine as his principal associate, Albertini benefited from Souvarine's intimate knowledge of the international
communist movement, and the publication they produced,
Est-Ouest, became a journal of reference for many in the French political class.
Throughout his life, Albertini kept meticulous records of his many meetings with French politicians, journalists, and businessmen.
These can be found in the NOTES, which, in addition to summaries of Albertini's activities, include correspondence and reports.
The notes provide extensive information on such subjects in modern French history as the war in Algeria, the May-June revolt
of 1968, and rivalries among conservative politicians. The main focus of Albertini's political undertakings was to document
the workings of the French Communist Party, and the notes contain detailed information on the finances, publications, and
internal politics of the French C.P. Albertini was keen to counter what he perceived to be communist influence in other parts
of the world, and there is a considerable amount of material in the papers relating to Latin America and Africa.
Albertini's sources of information included contacts within the French security services, and there are some reports emanating
from the French political police, the Renseignements Généraux, in the chronological section of the NOTES, especially for 1968
and immediately after. There are also internal reports and minutes of meetings relating to the functioning of Albertini's
research organization, the Centre d'Archives et de Documentation. These can be found in the topical section of the NOTES.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Communism
Anti-communist movements
France -- Politics and government -- 20th century
Communism -- France
Social history