Home > Jean-Francois Thiriart

Initially a Socialist Thiriart converted to Fascism after his mother brought in a Jewish step-father. In 1939 he joined the National Legion , a far right organisation, and served with the Nazis during the War, most notably as a paratrooper. He served time in prison for his collaboration and upon his release set up business as an optometrist, with some success.

Thiriart returned to the political scene in the 1960s after Belgium gave up its claim to Congo. Establishing links with French groups similarly opposed to decolonization he eventually became convinced of the need for a united Europe. As a result he formed Jeune Europe as a movement to reach out across Europe and he soon founded branches in Italy, Spain and FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. as well as Belgium. With a policy that was both Anti-American and Anti-Soviet, Thiriart presented Europe as the cradle of all innovation and denounced other races as mere passengers. Nevertheless he denied that he was a fascist and claimed to belong to the centre of the political spectrum.

Seeking to support radical revolutionaries in Latin AmericaLatin America consists of the countries of South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken there. Most freque and black power movements in the United States, Thiriart began to develop the idea of the Political SoldierPolitical Soldier was a political group within Britain's National Front, centred on young radicals Nick Griffin, Patrick Harrington and Derek Holland, that began to emerge in the late 1970s with new destinations in mind for the movement. They were at time and set up training camps to facilitate their creation. He also became an admirer of Nicolae CeausescuNicolae Andruta Ceauşescu nik-oh-LA-ye ahnd-RU-tsuh cha-ow-SHESS-koo ( January 26, 1918 December 25, 1989) was the leader of Communist Romania from 1965 until shortly before his execution in 1989. He was born in Scorniceşti village, Olt County, indicating a sympathy towards CommunismThis article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. For issues regarding the organization of the communist movement, see the Communist party article. For issues regarding one-par that displayed strong Nationalist characteristics. Communist China was also admired for these same reasons. As such Thiriart moved towards National Bolshevism and in later life he worked closely with such exponents of this idea as Eduard Limonov. As well as being a member of the small Belgian Parti Communautaire National-European, Thiriart came to spend a lot of time in Russia where he saw the potential for an explosion in European Nationalism.

Thiriart died of a heart attack on November 23, 1992 at the age of 70.