Dominique Ponchardier


Dominique Ponchardier was a French author and screenwriter who had been a member of the French Resistance during World War II, and later held positions as an intelligence officer, diplomat, colonial administrator and company president. He was a long-standing follower of Charles de Gaulle, at different times working for him in underground, intelligence, political, civil and diplomatic capacities.

Early life

Born into a family of industrialists, Dominique Ponchardier received his secondary education in Saint-Étienne, Nice and Brest.

Anti-Nazi Resistance

Ponchardier was doing his military service when World War II broke out. Wounded in the initial part of the war, he avoided being taken prisoner after the Fall of France, for which he later got the Escapees' Medal. He joined the French Resistance in October 1940 - a few months after the beginning of the Nazi occupation. In 1942, he participated in establishing the "Sosie" resistance network, together with his brother Pierre Ponchardier. He ended the war with the rank of Chef de Mission 1st class at the Directorate General of Studies and Research, the intelligence agency of the Free French Forces.

Gaullist activist

In 1948 he was a member of the board of directors of the RPF, a political movement founded by Charles de Gaulle.

Author of spy and detective fiction

In 1950, Ponchardier published the memoires of his wartime experiences, Les Pavés de l'enfer. This was followed, between 1954 and 1962, by a successful literary career under the pseudonyms A.L. Dominica and Antoine Dominique. He wrote an extensive series of Spy thrillers/Detective novels featuring a French intelligence operative and detective nicknamed "Le Gorille". He adapted some of his novels for the cinema.
After 1962 Ponchardier was too busy with various jobs and assignments to continue writing. His literary career resumed much later, in 1978 - his last book being published in 1983.

Anti-OAS campaign

In the aftermath of the Algerian war, in 1963, Ponchardier was recalled to active service and placed in charge of activities against the OAS. Already earlier, a militia which fought against the OAS with unofficial support from the French government got named "Barbouzes" - a name invented by Ponchardier and originally appearing in his fiction.
He was also a technical advisor to Michel Maurice-Bokanowski, Minister Of Industry.

Diplomat

From 1964 to 1968, Ponchardier was the French Ambassador to Bolivia. As such, it was he who negotiated in 1967 the release and expulsion to France of Régis Debray, captured by the Bolivian soldiers while he was leaving the headquarters of revolutionary Che Guevara.

Colonial Administrator

From 1969 to 1971, Ponchardier was Governor of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas . At the time, this was France's last remaining toehold on the African continent, all other African colonies having been granted independence already. At the direction of President De Gaulle and despite international pressure, France was trying to hold on to this last colony, manipulating ethnic divisions between Somali and Afar inhabitants. In his tenure, Ponchardier was confronted with increasingly militant activities by the FLCS which in January 1970 claimed an attack on the popular Palm in Zinc, a bar in Djibouti City. Ponchardier's successors would give up attempting to stem the tide of independence, and France would leave Djibouti in 1977.

Businessman

Ponchardier's last active years were spent in the private sector. From 1971 to 1981, he was President of the Comptoirs français du développement du textile.

Death

Ponchardier died on April 17, 1986, at Nice.
He is buried in Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Writings

;Le Gorille series, signed A. L. Dominique or Antoine Dominique
  • First Period Le Gorille vous salue bien, No. 220, Paris, 1954 Gaffe au Gorille !, No. 225, Paris, 1954Trois gorilles, No. 231, Paris, 1955Gorille sur champ d'azur, No. 236, Paris, 1955Le Gorille et le barbu, No. 245, Paris, 1955La valse des gorilles, No. 258, Paris, 1955 L'archipel aux Gorilles, No. 265, Paris, 1955Le Gorille dans le Pot au noir, No. 269, Paris, 1955Le Gorille sans cravate, No. 280, Paris, 1955Le Gorille se mange froid, No. 287, Paris, 1955Le Gorille en Bourgeois, No. 292, Paris, 1956Le Gorille chez les Mandingues, No. 297, Paris, 1956Poker Gorille, No. 302, Paris, 1956Le Gorille et l'Amazone, No. 307, Paris, 1956Le Gorille dans le cocotier, No. 312, Paris, 1956Le Gorille compte ses abattis, No. 317, Paris, 1956Entre le Gorille et les Corses, No. 322, Paris, 1956Couscous Gorille, No. 327, Paris, 1956Le Gorille dans la sciure, No. 332, Paris, 1956Le Gorille en bretelles, No. 337, Paris, 1956Paumé le Gorille !, No. 342, Paris, 1956Le Gorille se met à table, No. 347, Paris, 1956Le Gorille bille en tête, No. 352, Paris, 1957Le Gorille crache le feu, No. 362, Paris, 1957Le Gorille dans la verdine, No. 372, Paris, 1957Le Gorille au frigo, No. 382, Paris, 1957Le Gorille en pétard, No. 387, Paris, 1957Le Gorille et les pelouseux, No. 397, Paris, 1957Le Gorille sans moustache, No. 407, Paris, 1957Le Gorille tatoué, No. 417, Paris, 1958Le Gorille chez les parents terribles, No. 427, Paris, 1958Le Gorille dans le cirage, No. 437, Paris, 1958Le Gorille en révolution, No. 460, Paris, 1958Le Pavé du Gorille, No. 471, Paris, 1958Le Gorille a du poil au cœur, No. 494, Paris, 1959Le Gorille en fleurs, No. 505, Paris, 1959Le Gorille en est-il ?, No. 528, Paris, 1959Le Gorille a mordu l'archevêque, No. 552, Paris, 1960La Peau du Gorille, No. 563, Paris, 1960Trois gorilles sur un bateau, No. 577, Paris, 1960Le Gorille aux mains d'or, No. 606, Paris, 1960Le Gorille et les sociétés secrètes, No. 637, Paris, 1961Le Gorille enragé, No. 680, Paris, 1961
  • Second Period Oiseaux de nuit, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 1, 1978Irish Micmac, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 4, 1978Tendre est mon chien cuit, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 6, 1978L'African Terror, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 8, 1978Apocalypse Bazar, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 9, 1978Sweet Lupanar, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 11, 1979Dans le baba, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 13, 1979Feu au derche, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 15, 1979La Buveuse de santé, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 17, 1980...Jusqu'au cou, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 19, 1980Le Con pathétique, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 21, 1980Semoule et foies blancs, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 23, 1981Du sang dans le caviar, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 25, 1981Le Gorille et les Corses, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 26, 1981Le Gorille paumé dans le soleil, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 27, 1982Le Gorille et la mauvaise soupe, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 29, 1982Le Gorille et la môme éblouie, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 30, 1982Le Gorille et la très grande faute, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 31, 1982Le Gorille et l'inconnu aux yeux blancs, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 32, 1983Le Gorille chez les Popofs, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 33, 1983Le Gorille en cavale, Paris, Plon, coll. Le Gorille No. 34, 1983
;Other novels signed Antoine DominiqueLes Suspects, Paris, Éditions France-Empire, 1957Passage à vide, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 449, 1958L'Hôtel des Sans-Culottes, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 483, 1959Pétrole, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 517, 1959Le Manouche, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 541, 1960Au poteau, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 592, 1960Baobab, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 624, 1961Au temps des cerises, Paris, Gallimard, Série noire No. 661, 1961Tête-de-fer, Paris, Gallimard, 1963
;Novels signed Dominique PonchardierLa Dame de Tadjoura, Paris, Gallimard, 1973La Mort du Condor, Paris, Gallimard, 1976
;Memoires signed Dominique PonchardierLes Pavés de l'enfer, Paris, Gallimard, 1950; republished Paris, J'ai lu Leur aventure No. A48/49, 1969; another variation published 1973 as Les Pavés de l'enfer, la Résistance en France, 1940-1944
  • ''La Dame de Tadjoura''

Filmography

Decorations