Two letters from Geneviève de GAULLE-ANTHONIOZ about the General.

Genevieve de GAULLE-ANTHONIOZ (1920.2002)

Set of two autograph letters signed to Michel Cazenave.

Four ½ in-8° pages.

Vieil Estrée, July 25, 1988 and Paris, June 10, 1990.

"I often think that the French are above all grateful to General de Gaulle for having ennobled them (even more than liberated them.)"

Moving letters from General de Gaulle's niece reacting with admiration to her correspondent's two publications on the man of June 18, 1940.

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I. “Dear friend, our last meeting – which gave us great joy – was like the sequel to “De Gaulle and the Land of France”. I look at the cover of your book which illustrates your meditation so well: the general, tiny and immense in this landscape he loved, where his earthly remains rest . Is the dream you pursue alongside Charles de Gaulle yours, is it his? Perhaps your secret reaches the same heights? (or the same depths?) – It also has those you love together: Claudel, Péguy, Malraux, Chateaubriand, … This “old Earth” will have given us similar lessons and, who knows? close consolations. Dear Michel Cazenave, we feel even more fraternally united since this meditative walk in the land of France and alongside the one who served it so well. ”

II. “Dear friend, I understand and share your “ unconditional support ” for de Gaulle. I also read your book with passion. No one before you has better penetrated the thought of the man of June 18 , nor explained the deep motives of his actions. Yes, you are right to speak of his “vision of the world” and of what he embodied in France. He revealed to him his vocation for service and greatness; but each of those who followed him could doubtless say so too. I often think that the French are above all grateful to General de Gaulle for having ennobled them (even more than liberated them). “De Gaulle, a certain idea of ​​France” no doubt, but also a certain idea of ​​the man. Thank you, dear Michel Cazenave, for making us meditate on this difficult path whose greatness Charles de Gaulle showed us.”

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Geneviève de Gaulle is the daughter of Xavier de Gaulle, Charles's older brother. A member of the Resistance (under the name Germaine Lecomte) during the Second World War, she was arrested in July 1943 and then deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in February 1944. In 2015, President François Hollande announced the transfer of her remains to the Panthéon alongside Jean Zay and members of the Resistance Pierre Brossolette and Germaine Tillion. However, the family refused to allow the body to be transferred to the Panthéon. On May 27, 2015, an empty coffin containing a little earth taken from the Bossey cemetery was solemnly placed in the crypt of the Panthéon.

Bibliography:

De Gaulle and the Land of France , Plon, 1988.

De Gaulle, a certain idea of ​​France , Critérion, 1990.