Pierre MENDÈS FRANCE - Important letter signed to Jean GALTIER-BOISSIÈRE, 1958

  

Important typed letter, signed, addressed by the French statesman Pierre MENDÈS FRANCE (1907-1982) to Jean GALTIER BOISSIÈRE (Paris, 1891 - Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1966), novelist, polemicist, painter, and journalist, creator of the satirical periodical Le Crapouillot. A severe clarification following the publication of various articles. 1 sheet measuring 27 x 21 cm (remnant of mounting on left margin).

Having as a principle never to respond to articles in which I am implicated, I would not revisit the one you dedicated to me in your issue 43, if I did not notice, among other fanciful assertions, indications that, you write, would not have been, in the past, "the subject of any denial." It just so happens that they have indeed been the subject of condemnations pronounced by the Criminal Court of the Seine and confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Paris on May 3, 1955, and July 11, 1956.

The same article is rife with inaccuracies concerning, in particular, my civil status, my past political positions, my role in the Resistance and the war, my friendships and relationships, and finally my in-laws and their business activities. This letter does not aim to correct them—it would require several pages!—but simply to prohibit you from claiming in the future that they have "not been the subject of any denial." It would have been simpler for you to carry out some verifications before taking the responsibility of such a widely inaccurate and slanderous publication. Therefore, I express here my strong surprise, to which I add my distinguished sentiments.