Alain Peyrefitte (1925–1999): Visions from the XXth Century’s Last Moralist

Abstract

This article renders justice to Alain Peyrefitte, a French Gaullist minister who conducted, in parallel with official duties, a personal project of being an observer of his times as did his models Tocqueville (for the native USA) and Custine (for Imperial Russia) during the XIXth century. In spite of his an apparent success as a minister who served several times, as well as by his election at the Academie Francaise, Peyrefitte was under attack on the breach throughout during his whole life, with enemies both from within the Gaullist camp (like Jacques Chirac), and outside (leftist intellectuals never acknowledged his works). As De Gaulle himself, Peyrefitte was the target of two assassination attempts, which in a way proves his capacity to disturb conventional mindframes. His works are quite varied and always bring new approach.