View source for Henry de Lesquen

{{short description|French retired official, politician and radio director (born 1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{infobox person/Wikidata
| fetchwikidata=ALL
| image               = Henry de Lesquen (2017).png
| caption             = De Lesquen in 2017
| onlysourced=yes
| birth_place=[[Kenitra|Port-Lyautey]], [[French protectorate in Morocco|Morocco]]
| nationality=French
| occupation=Official, radio director and politician
| children=François de Lesquen, Roland de Lesquen, Mahaut de Lesquen, Clélie de Lesquen-Jonas
| birth_name = Henry Bertrand Marie Armand de Lesquen du Plessis-Casso
| alma_mater = [[École polytechnique]]<br>[[École nationale d'administration]]
}}

'''Henry Bertrand Marie Armand de Lesquen du Plessis-Casso''' ({{IPA|fr|ɑ̃ʁi d(ə) lɛskɑ̃}}; born 1 January 1949) is a French politician. A retired official and former radio director, De Lesquen has been the president of the [[Carrefour de l'Horloge]], a [[National liberalism|national-liberal]] [[think tank]], since 1985.<ref name="Stakeholders2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vdfr95.com/intervenants.htm |title=Henry de Lesquen |publisher=Stakeholders |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529053432/http://www.vdfr95.com/intervenants.htm |archive-date=29 May 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=22 December 2010}}</ref> A blogger and YouTuber since the 2010s, he has participated in popularising the concept of "[[remigration]]" in France.

== Biography ==

===Early life and education===
Henry Bertrand Marie Armand de Lesquen du Plessis-Casso was born on 1 January 1949 in [[Kenitra|Port-Lyautey]], Morocco, then a [[French protectorate in Morocco|French protectorate]], the son of Pierre de Lesquen du Plessis-Casso, a general of the [[French Army]] and Anne-Marie Huon de Kermadec. Both his father and mother were from noble [[Brittany|Breton]] families. De Lesquen's maternal grand-mother, Camille Medina, was born [[Guatemala]]n and naturalized French.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcGBkgEACAAJ |title=Les Medina d'Amérique latine: histoire et généalogie |last=Marcenat |first=Marie-Aline |date=2012 |publisher=MAM |isbn=9782954207902 |language=fr}}</ref>

De Lesquen entered [[École Polytechnique|Polytechnique]] in 1968, then earned a bachelor in economics and joined the [[École nationale d'administration]] (ENA) in 1974.<ref>Philippe Lamy. "Le Club de l'horloge (1974-2002) : évolution et mutation d'un laboratoire idéologique (thèse de doctorat en sociologie", Paris, université Paris-VIII, Paris, 2016, p. 256</ref>

=== Carrefour de l'Horloge ===
{{Main|Carrefour de l'Horloge}}
With his friend from ENA [[Jean-Yves Le Gallou]], de Lesquen founded the [[Carrefour de l'Horloge|Club de l'Horloge]] in July 1974. Criticizing the [[Metapolitics|meta-politics]] of [[Alain de Benoist]]'s [[Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne|GRECE]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.france-politique.fr/wiki/Carrefour_de_l%27Horloge_(CDH) |title=Carrefour de l'Horloge (CDH) — France Politique |website=www.france-politique.fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref> the Club de l'Horloge aimed at concrete results, favoring [[entryism]] inside the French mainstream right-wing parties of the period: the [[Rally for the Republic]] (RPR) and the [[Union for French Democracy]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=McCulloch |first=Tom |date=2006-08-01 |title=The Nouvelle Droite in the 1980s and 1990s: Ideology and Entryism, the Relationship with the Front National |journal=French Politics |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=158–178 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200099 |s2cid=144813395 |issn=1476-3427 |quote=The Club was formed in 1974 by members of GRECE, notably Jean-Yves Le Gallou, Yvan Blot, and Henry de Lesquen [...] The founders were moved by political ambition and disillusionment with GRECE's long-term meta-political project for winning the battle of ideas and achieving the 'sudden metamorphosis' that would create fundamental political shift. The Club intended to force the pace and its members pursued careers in the RPR and UDF.}}</ref>

The book ''La Politique du vivant'' ("The Politics of living"), published in 1979 under the direction of de Lesquen, drew influence from GRECE theories on [[sociobiology]], [[Biological determinism|genetic determinism]] and [[Social Darwinism|social darwinism]].<ref name=":2" /> The same year, he participated with Alain de Benoist in the French TV literary talk show ''[[Apostrophes (talk show)|Apostrophes]]'' about the [[Nouvelle Droite]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1979/09/29/la-nouvelle-droite-organise-sa-riposte-a-une-campagne-malhonnete_2784757_1819218.html |title=La nouvelle droite organise sa riposte à une " campagne malhonnête " |date=1979-09-29 |access-date=2019-08-04 |language=fr}}</ref> Since the years 1979-80, the [[Carrefour de l'Horloge|Club de l'Horloge]] has distanced itself from GRECE, promoting instead an "[[economic liberalism]] strongly tainted with [[nationalism]]."<ref>Mathieu Laurent, Les Structures non-partisanes dans le champ politique (thèse de doctorat en science politique), université Paris-IV, 2011, p. 101.</ref>

=== Public career ===
From 1974 to 1978, de Lesquen has been in charge of the program bureau for the [[Autoroutes of France|French highways]] at the [[Ministry of Ecology|Ministry of Equipment]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.histoire-dac.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/structure/pdf/1976.pdf |access-date=19 April 2023 |language=fr |website=gouv.fr |title=Ministère de l'Équipement}}</ref> He became head of the bureau of energies, raw materials and chemistry at the [[Ministry of the Economy and Finance (France)|Ministry of Finances]] from 1979 to 1983.<ref name=":1">“Henry de Lesquen du Plessis Casso”, in Who's Who in France, 2013, p. 1384</ref> De Lesquen has been also a lecturer in economics at [[Sciences Po]] from 1978 to 1987.<ref name=":1" />

In 1984, he became deputy director of finances for the city of [[Paris]]. In this position, he refused in December 1986 to observe a minute's silence after the [[death of Malik Oussekine]] and, according to witnesses, left the room during the ceremony.<ref>Philippe Lamy. "Le Club de l'horloge (1974-2002) : évolution et mutation d'un laboratoire idéologique (thèse de doctorat en sociologie", Paris, université Paris-VIII, Paris, 2016, p. 615</ref> In 1987, he was nominated by mayor of Paris [[Jacques Chirac]] secretary-general of the ''Office Public d'Aménagement et de Construction'' (OPAC) and remained at this position until 1990; he had been accused of enacting unofficial ethnic quotas.<ref name=":1" /> In 2001, de Lesquen became a municipal councilor in [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]],<ref name="Stakeholders2"/> where he spoke out against the city's [[public housing]] projects.

In 2007, he was elected president of right-wing radio station [[Radio Courtoisie]], from which he was ousted in 2017 after the controversies surrounding his presidential campaign.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.marianne.net/politique/fachosphere-henry-de-lesquen-debarque-de-radio-courtoisie-enfin |title=Fachosphère : Henry de Lesquen débarqué de Radio Courtoisie (enfin !) |date=2017-07-05 |website=Marianne |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref>

== Positions ==

=== 2017 presidential election ===
At the end of 2015, de Lesquen announced his candidacy to the [[2017 French presidential election|2017 presidential election]]. In the following months, he attracted media attention by making a number of provocative proposals, claiming that as president, he would destroy the [[Eiffel Tower]]; "burn" France's [[labour code]], which he consider an obstacle to entrepreneurship and as stifling individual liberty, and annex [[Belgium]] and [[Luxembourg]]. De Lesquen also added that he would ban "negro music" from government-sponsored broadcasts—in his view the "music with a sexual rhythm, expression of the soul of the African people"; including [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]], [[Heavy metal music|metal]] and [[rock and roll]], which he described as "white people's negro music, that appeals to the reptilian brain".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-12 |title=Présidentielle : Henry de Lesquen, ce candidat qui veut "bannir la musique nègre" et revenir au 19e siècle |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/politique/20160411.OBS8244/presidentielle-henry-de-lesquen-ce-candidat-qui-veut-bannir-la-musique-negre-et-revenir-au-19e-siecle.html |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Albertini |first=Dominique |title=Henry de Lesquen, au nom de la race |url=https://www.liberation.fr/france/2016/04/26/henry-de-lesquen-au-nom-de-la-race_1448723/ |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Libération |language=fr}}</ref>

He was eventually sentenced to a 16,000-euro fine in January 2017 for incitement to racial hatred and [[holocaust denial]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-25 |title=Henry de Lesquen condamné à 16 000 euros d'amende |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/justice/henry-de-lesquen-condamne-a-16-000-euros-d-amende_1872821.html |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=LExpress.fr |language=fr}}</ref> In March 2017, de Lesquen withdrew his candidacy in favor of [[The Republicans (France)|LR]] runner [[François Fillon]],<ref>[http://www.lci.fr/elections/henry-de-lesquen-le-nouveau-soutien-tres-encombrant-de-francois-fillon-2028036.html Le nouveau soutien (très encombrant) de François Fillon], [[LCI (France)|LCI]], 3 March 2017</ref> against the "cosmopolitan oligarchy" and to "stand in the way of [[Emmanuel Macron|Macron]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boursorama.com/actualites/le-week-end-ou-tout-peut-basculer-pour-francois-fillon-de28f3460c9dfe3e44f036150fa6c7d4 |title=Le week-end où tout peut basculer pour François Fillon |date=2017-03-03 |website=Boursorama |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lci.fr/elections/henry-de-lesquen-le-nouveau-soutien-tres-encombrant-de-francois-fillon-2028036.html |title=Le nouveau soutien (très encombrant) de François Fillon |website=LCI |date=3 March 2017 |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref>

=== Online fame and influence ===
Lesquen runs a Youtube channel, totalling several million views, in which he expresses his political theories and has attracted a lot of young people who label themselves the ''Jeunesses Lesquenistes'' ("Lesquenist Youth").<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/fr/article/le-racisme-nest-pas-necessairement-haineux/ |title=Le racisme n'est pas nécessairement haineux |last1=Pagès |first1=Arnaud |last2=Topaloff |first2=Anna |date=2018-05-29 |website=Vice |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref> He founded a political movement in 2018,<ref name=":0" /> the National-Liberal Party (PNL; French "Parti National-Libéral"), which aims at promoting [[National liberalism|national liberal]] ideas,<ref>Philippe Lamy (sous la dir. de Claude Dargent),  (thèse de doctorat en sociologie), Paris, université Paris-VIII, 2016, <abbr>pp.</abbr> 373-74.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lesinrocks.com/2016/12/08/actualite/actualite/musique-negre-racisme-juifs-coefficient-de-blancheur-proces-surrealiste-dhenry-de-lesquen/ |title="Musique nègre", "racisme des Juifs", "coefficient de blancheur"... le procès surréaliste d'Henry de Lesquen |website=Les Inrocks |language=fr-FR |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref> and restoring traditional French values and liberal economics<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.causeur.fr/henry-de-lesquen-presidentielle-2017-shoah-parti-national-liberal-38506 |title=Henry de Lesquen: le candidat de la mémoire (courte) |last1=Causeur.fr |last2=Fouchecour |first2=Clotilde de |date=2016-06-02 |website=Causeur |language=fr-FR |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref> through ideological influence rather than elected office.

[[File:Parti National-Libéral.jpg|thumb|upright|Logo of his ''National-liberal party'']]Using irony and provocative symbolism akin to the [[Alt-right|Alt-Right]] movement, the logo of his party imitates the ''[[Wolfsangel]]'' used by the [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'']] in [[World War II|WWII]].<ref name="MagLit">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nouveau-magazine-litteraire.com/idees/a-lextreme-droite-quoi-de-nouveau- |title=A l'extrême droite, quoi de nouveau ? |last=Lebourg |first=Nicolas |author-link=Nicolas Lebourg |date=2018 |website=Nouveau Magazine Littéraire |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04 |quote=Ce Parti National-Libéral pousse le goût de la « private joke » jusqu’à avoir un logotype où ses initiales évoquent la « rune du loup » utilisée jadis par la division Das Reich, et remise à la mode par les ultras ukrainiens.}}</ref> Through his online videos, Lesquen participated in popularizing the concept of "[[remigration]]" in France<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/henry-de-lesquen-candidat-a-la-presidence-et-multirecidiviste-de-la-haine_1787334.html |title=Les propos nauséabonds d'Henry de Lesquen, multirécidiviste de la haine |date=2016-04-28 |website=LExpress.fr |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref> and spreading [[Racialism|racialist]] theories built on anthropologist [[Carleton S. Coon]]'s works.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/fr/article/henry-de-lesquen-theories-racistes-delirantes/ |title=J'ai demandé à Henry de Lesquen s'il croyait vraiment à ses théories racistes délirantes |last=Pagès |first=Arnaud |date=2016-11-17 |website=Vice |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-05}}</ref> De Lesquen also introduced the word "[[Candaulism|candaule]]" as a French equivalent for the Alt-Right term "[[cuckservative]]". Similar to its American counterpart, the term is used as a distinction between the "true ring-wingers", who "oppose anti-racist laws" and "favor [[remigration]]", and the "losers of the right".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/03/06/que-signifie-le-terme-candaule-que-je-vois-regulierement-dans-les-messages-de-l-extreme-droite-ces-d_1653286 |title=Que signifie le terme "candaule" que je vois régulièrement dans les messages de l'extrême droite ces derniers temps ? C'est une insulte j'imagine ? |date=2018-03-06 |website=Libération.fr |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref>

=== Relations with the FN ===
He described Marine Le Pen as "a leftist woman entertaining herself hearing negro music in nightclubs" and an "incult" and the [[National Rally]] as a "pederastic lupanar."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-01 |title=Fachos, intégristes, réacs... Cette extrême droite anti-Le Pen |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/politique/20150429.OBS8138/fachos-integristes-reacs-cette-extreme-droite-anti-le-pen.html |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-12 |title=Marine Le Pen sous le feu de l'extrême-droite française la plus dure |url=https://www.challenges.fr/politique/marine-le-pen-sous-le-feu-de-l-extreme-droite-francaise-la-plus-dure_87520 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Challenges |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Others ===
At the end of 2018, he decided to support the "[[Yellow vests movement|Yellow Vests]]", denouncing over-taxation and describing the movement as made up of "French people from French ancestors".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/transports/mobilisation-du-17-novembre/enquete-franceinfo-pourquoi-l-ultradroite-a-t-elle-embrasse-la-cause-des-gilets-jaunes_3084163.html |title=Pourquoi l'ultradroite a-t-elle embrassé la cause des "gilets jaunes" ? |last1=Lambert |first1=Élise |last2=Duguet |first2=Margaux |date=2018 |website=Franceinfo |language=fr |access-date=2019-08-04}}</ref>

He stated that [[slavery]] was a historical necessity due to the low economic and technological levels and that Black slaves were relatively well-treated.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |first4= |date=2016-03-14 |title=Les " vérités " d'Henry de Lesquen sur l'esclavage |url=https://97land.com/les-verites-dhenry-de-lesquen-sur-lesclavage/ |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=97land |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

He described [[transsexual]] individuals as "perverts" and "mentally diseased" deserving psychiatry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Condamnation d'Henry de Lesquen pour avoir qualifié les personnes " transgenres " de " vicieux " - Infractions de presse |url=https://www.legipresse.com/011-50010-condamnation-dhenry-de-lesquen-pour-avoir-qualifie-les-personnes-transgenres-de-vicieux.html |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=www.legipresse.com}}</ref>

In March 2020, Lesquen stated "there is worse than [[coronavirus]]: judeovirus" at a meeting of the "Swiss Resistance" organization.<ref>{{Cite news |last=G. D. |url=https://www.24heures.ch/vaud-regions/riviera-chablais/salle-comble-extremiste-henry-lesquen/story/24751853 |title=Salle comble pour l'extrémiste Henry de Lesquen |date=2020-08-03 |work=24Heures |access-date=2020-04-19 |language=fr |issn=1424-4039}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bentolila |first1=Yossi |title=El virus del antisemitismo se convierte también en pandemia |url=http://www.nmidigital.com/el-virus-del-antisemitismo-se-convierte-tambien-en-pandemia/ |access-date=1 April 2020 |work=Nuevo Mundo Israelita Digital |date=31 March 2020 |language=es-VE}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=International Scapegoating of Israel and Jews for Spreading COVID-19 |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/international-scapegoating-of-israel-and-jews-for-spreading-covid-19 |access-date=1 April 2020 |work=Anti-Defamation League |language=en}}</ref>

== Private life ==
Henry de Lesquen is a [[Traditionalist Catholicism|traditionalist Catholic]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.marianne.net/medias/entre-delires-racistes-et-antisemites-l-ingerable-henry-de-lesquen-radio-courtoisie |title=Entre délires racistes et antisémites, l'ingérable Henry de Lesquen à Radio Courtoisie |last=Hausalter |first=Louis |date=2016-10-22 |website=Marianne |language=fr |access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref> He broke off relations with his daughter, Clélie, after she married a Jew.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/06/28/clelie-de-lesquen-chemin-de-fiere_1662647 |title=Clélie de Lesquen, chemin de fière |last=Hadni |first=Dounia |date=2018-06-28 |website=Libération |language=fr |access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Alt-right]]
* [[Carrefour de l'horloge|Carrefour de l'Horlorge]]
* [[Racialism]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{Official}}

{{European New Right}}
{{French far right}}
{{Fascism}}
{{Alt-right}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesquen, Henry De}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Carrefour de l'horloge people]]
[[Category:École nationale d'administration alumni]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Sciences Po]]
[[Category:French far-right politicians]]
[[Category:French untitled nobility]]
[[Category:French civil servants]]
[[Category:French people convicted of Holocaust denial]]
[[Category:French people of Breton descent]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Right (Europe)]]
[[Category:People from Kenitra]]
[[Category:People from Versailles]]
[[Category:People convicted of racial hatred offences]]
[[Category:Proponents of scientific racism]]
[[Category:Rally for the Republic politicians]]
[[Category:French male bloggers]]
[[Category:French YouTubers]]
[[Category:Rattachism]]
[[Category:National liberalism]]
[[Category:French proslavery activists]]