Maxime Blocq-Mascart
Maxime Blocq-Mascart (17 November 1894 – 14 July 1965) was a French banker, economist and a leader of the French Resistance during World War II. He came from a banking family in Paris, was orphaned as a child, and was adopted by his uncle. He served in World War I as a soldier and pilot, then studied politics and worked in banks and industry.
At the start of World War II, Blocq-Mascart was involved in economic and public affairs, serving as general secretary of Europe nouvelle and vice-president of the Confederation of Intellectual Workers. After France fell, he returned to Paris and helped form a resistance group that merged with the Mouvement des classes moyennes. In 1941 this became the Organisation civile et militaire (OCM), a conservative resistance group. Blocq-Mascart led the OCM’s civil affairs and helped develop its political ideas, including a plan for postwar reforms.
In 1942 he published a 50-page piece in the OCM Cahiers about minorities and antisemitism, arguing for restrictions on Jews and other groups. The article drew criticism from some resistance leaders, but Blocq-Mascart continued to lead the OCM after other leaders were arrested.
In 1944 Blocq-Mascart became vice-president of the National Council of the Resistance (CNR) and represented the OCM and other resistance groups. He supported the Paris insurrection and helped shape postwar plans.
After the war he worked to help resistance members and families of deportees. He helped found Parisien Libéré, a centrist newspaper, and led or supported several social relief organizations. He also supported eugenic ideas to boost France’s birth rate, a view now rejected.
From 1951 to 1962 he served as Conseiller d’État (Councillor of State) and, in 1958, backed Charles de Gaulle. He opposed de Gaulle’s Algeria policy. He died in Saint-Cloud in 1965.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:10 (CET).