LECACHE, BERNARD

LECACHE, BERNARD (1895–1968), French journalist and author. The son of a Paris tailor, Lecache early distinguished himself as a vigorous opponent of race hatred. A political radical, he contributed to the dailies and periodical press. Following his expulsion from the Communist Party in 1923, Lecache joined the independent left and made his name as an outspoken opponent of antisemitism. In 1927 he was the co-founder, with Pierre Paraf, of LICA (Ligue internationale contre le Racisme et l'Antisémitisme). He was president of the league and also of the Rassemblement Mondial Antiraciste. In 1933 he founded the anti-racist journal, Le Droit de vivre. He received several decorations for service as an officer in the maquis during World War II. In 1950 he was appointed editor in chief of the weekly Journal du Dimanche. Lecache gives a sensitive and well-documented description of life among Russian-Jewish immigrants in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century in the novel Jacob (1925), and in his trilogy Au paysdes pogromes, consisting of Quand Israël meurt (1927), Les Porteurs de Croix (1930), and Les Ressuscités (1934). (Pierre Aubery)