Register of the Georges Albertini papers

Finding aid prepared by David Jacobs
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2004
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu


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

Access

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.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Initally acquired in 1980.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Georges Albertini papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Biographical Note

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

Scope and Content Note

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

 

Biographical File 1983-1986

Scope and Contents note

Clippings and serial issue, arranged alphabetically by physical form
box 1, folder 1

Clippings 1983-1986

box 1, folder 2

Serial issue 1983

 

Correspondence 1938-1969

Scope and Contents note

Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent
box 1, folder 3

Unidentified 1938-1943

box 1, folder 4

Allen, Richard V. 1969

box 1, folder 5

Buber-Faust, Margarete 1949

box 1, folder 6

Laurat, Lucien 1967

box 1, folder 7

Schueller, E. 1941

 

Writings 1944-1945

Scope and Contents note

Articles arranged chronologically
box 1, folder 8

"Histoire du RNP (Rassemblement National Populaire)," . 1944

Scope and Contents note

Typescript
box 1, folder 9

"Journal de prison," . 1944-1945

Scope and Contents note

Photocopy of holograph
 

Notes, 1948-1979

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence, dossiers, notes, and reports, arranged in two subseries, the first chronological and the second alphabetical by topic
 

Chronological

box 1, folder 10

1948

box 1, folder 11

1949

box 1, folder 12

1950

box 1, folder 13

1951

 

1952

box 2, folder 1

January-June

box 2, folder 2

July-September

box 2, folder 3

October-December

 

1953

box 2, folder 4

January-June

box 2, folder 5

July-December

 

1954

box 3, folder 1

January-June

box 3, folder 2

July-December

 

1955

box 3, folder 3

January-June

box 3, folder 4

July-December

 

1956

box 4, folder 1

January-June

box 4, folder 2

July-December

 

1957

box 4, folder 3

January-June

box 4, folder 4

July-September

box 4, folder 5

October-December

 

1958

box 5, folder 1

January-March

box 5, folder 2

April-June

box 5, folder 3

July-December

 

1959

box 5, folder 4

January-June

box 5, folder 5

July-December

box 6, folder 1

1960

box 6, folder 2

1961

box 6, folder 3

1962

box 6, folder 4

1963

box 6, folder 5

1964

box 6, folder 6

1965

box 6, folder 7

1966

 

1967

box 6, folder 8

January-June

box 6, folder 9

July-December

 

1968

box 7, folder 1

January-June

box 7, folder 2

July-December

 

1969

box 7, folder 3

January-June

box 7, folder 4

July-December

 

1970

box 7, folder 5

January-March

box 8, folder 1

April-December

 

1971

box 8, folder 2

January-June

box 8, folder 3

July-December

 

1972

box 8, folder 4

January-June

box 8, folder 5

July-December

 

1973

box 9, folder 1

January-June

box 9, folder 2

July-December

 

1974

box 9, folder 3

January-June

box 9, folder 4

July-December

box 9, folder 5

1975

box 9, folder 6

1976

 

1977

box 10, folder 1

January-April

box 10, folder 2

May-August

box 10, folder 3

September-December

 

1978

box 10, folder 4

January-April

box 10, folder 5

May-August

box 11, folder 1

September-December

 

1979

box 11, folder 2

January-April

box 11, folder 3

May-August

box 11, folder 4

September-December

 

Topical

 

Africa

box 11, folder 5

1958-1960

box 12, folder 1

1961-1962

box 12, folder 2

1963-1964

box 12, folder 3

1965-1969

box 12, folder 4

1970-1975

 

Algeria

box 12, folder 5

1956-1957

box 13, folder 1

1958-1959

box 13, folder 2

1960-1962

box 13, folder 3

Baranès, André 1954

box 13, folder 4

Brazil 1967

box 13, folder 5

Catholic Church (France) 1969

 

Centre d'Archives et de Documentation

box 13, folder 6

1948-1955

box 13, folder 7

1956-1965

box 13, folder 8

1966-1969

 

Communist Party (France)

box 14, folder 1

1950-1951

box 14, folder 2

1952

box 14, folder 3

1953-1954

box 14, folder 4

1958-1971

box 14, folder 5

France - Elections 1956

box 14, folder 6

Italy - Politics and government 1969-1970

box 14, folder 7

Soviet Union. Posol'stvo (France) 1958

 

Latin America - Politics and government

box 15, folder 1

1961-1964

box 15, folder 2

1965-1966

box 15, folder 3

1967-1971

box 15, folder 4

Lecoeur, Auguste 1954-1957

box 15, folder 5

Morocco - Politics and government 1950-1951

box 15, folder 6

Naumann, Werner, . 1952-1953

Scope and Contents note

Includes typescript of "Les fossoyeurs sont parmi nous," a French translation of a series of articles by Fried Wesemann, 1953
box 15, folder 7

Poland - Foreign relations - France 1951

box 16, folder 1

Poujade, Pierre 1956

box 16, folder 2

Socialist Party (France) 1956

box 16, folder 3

Soviet Union - Foreign relations 1953

box 16, folder 4

Trade unions - France 1972

 

Subject File 1959-1967

Scope and Contents note

Articles and book excerpts, arranged alphabetically by subject
box 16, folder 5

Banks and banking - Europe 1967

box 16, folder 6

General Strike, France, 1936 1966

box 16, folder 7

Mussolini, Benito 1967

box 16, folder 8

Russia - History (1613-1917) 1959-1966

box 16, folder 9

Sorge, Richard 1966

box 16, folder 10

Working class - History 1966

 

Printed Matter 1966-1967

Scope and Contents note

Monograph and serial issues, arranged alphabetically by physical form
 

Monograph

box 16, folder 12

Le parti communiste français en 1967 1967

 

Serial issues

box 16, folder 12

Cahiers de l'histoire, no. 64 1967 March

box 16, folder 13

Cahiers libres, no. 93 1966 December

box 16, folder 14

Historiens et géographes, no. 200 1966 October

box 16, folder 15

Information historique 1967 January-February