Photographie originale dédicacée de Charles De Gaulle à Emilien Amaury

Original photograph inscribed by Charles De Gaulle to Émilien Amaury

No publisher | no place | 18 June 1956 | 19 x 26 cm | single framed sheet
An original photograph showing Charles de Gaulle with, beside him, the patron of the press and founder of Parisien libéré, Émilien Amaury.
Handsome dated autograph inscription from 18 June 1956 and signed by Charles de Gaulle to Émilien Amaury.
Émilien Amaury (1909-1977) led from 1941 the «groupe de la rue de Lille», an underground cell hidden in the offices of the Office de publicité générale, which aimed to combat propaganda and the occupation. Amaury, thanks to his good official position, placed his presses at the service of various Resistance movements at a time of paper rationing. The group worked to spread the clandestine Resistance press, of whatever stripe: Résistance, L'Humanité, Courrier du Témoignage chrétien, etc. It was also he who printed fake documents for the Resistance, and above all the messages of Général de Gaulle.
This photograph is mentioned by Guy Vadepied in his biography of Émilien Amaury: «On the 29 September 1954, Amaury's press announced the publication of Mémoires de Guerre [Memories of the War] by the Général. Two days later, Émilien was received by de Gaulle at la Boisserie, accompanied, in great secrecy, by his friend André Régnier...A photo was taken on this occasion. The photo of Émilien Amaury, near the great man in the gardens of the property was reproduced full-page on the front page of Carrefour before being handed out to a few chosen friends. An exceptional favor?» (Émilien Amaury. La Véritable Histoire d'un patron de presse du XXème siècle, le Cherche Midi, 2009).
When Amaury died in January 1977 le Parisien reproduced on its cover the signed photo we are now offering for sale, with the following caption: «This was his favorite photo. Taken at la Boisserie, beside General de Gaulle during his 'time in the wilderness' which was, without doubt, the most difficult period of the Liberator of France's life, and, by the same token, the most lonely. In Amaury's eyes it showed that quality he appreciated above all others: loyalty. A loyalty that did not require blindness, nor renunciation of the principles of honor, freedom or respect for the people he had regarded with enthusiasm since his early youth – he is beside another Frenchman who put his stamp on his time: Marc Sengier – but an unremitting loyalty. Like General de Gaulle, and in his image, Amaury was a man for stormy times.»