The Immortal Who Chose the Enemy: Abel Hermant’s Fall from the Académie
He was one of France’s literary Immortals — elected to the Académie française, celebrated for his sharp novels of high society and his defense of the pure French language. Then came the Occupation. At nearly eighty years old, Abel Hermant aligned himself with the enemy: writing for a pro-Nazi newspaper, supporting Vichy, and joining the Groupe Collaboration.
In December 1945 the same man was sentenced to life in prison for intelligence with the enemy, stripped of his Academy seat, and erased in disgrace.
Host Alexander Lawson tells the story of the writer who traded literary immortality for…
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