Soustelle, Jacques

(1912-1990)

   ethnologist, political figure

   Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Jacques Soustelle, was a specialist on pre-Columbian Mexico (La Famille Otoni-Pame, 1937; L'Art du Mexique ancien, 1966; Mexique et les Quatre Soleils, 1967). He served as assistant director of the musée de l'Homme (1937) and was a founding member of the union of intellectuals against Fascism and War. In 1940 he joined the Free French forces. Director general of Special French Services in London, then in Algeria (1943), after the Liberation he served as minister of information (1945) and of colonies (1945-46) and took part in the establishment of the Gaullist movement, the rassemblement du peuple français (RPF) (April 1947). A deputy (1951-58), he served as governor-general of Algeria (1955-56) and became a leading spokesperson for an integrated French Algeria. A leader of the May 1958 civil and military rebellion there that led to the appointment of General charles de gaulle as premier, he subsequently opposed the policy of Algerian self-determination and went into exile in italy. Returning to France in 1968 after a general amnesty, he was elected deputy (1973-78). Besides his ethnological works, Soustelle wrote his memoirs of the resistance (Envers à contre tout, 1947-50) and published works on the Algerian problem (L'Espérance trahie, 1962) and on Gaullism (Vingt-huit Ans de gaullisme, 1968). He was elected to the Académie Française in 1983.