Jean de Bonnefon
Jean de Bonnefon was a French journalist and Catholic author.
Early life
Jean de Bonnefon was born on March 22, 1867, in Calvinet, Cantal. His father, born Charles Bonnefon, changed his patronymic surname to Charles de Bonnefon in 1855; the nobiliary particle had been dropped by the family during the French Revolution. His mother was Marie Valentin.
Career
Bonnefon was a journalist and Catholic author. He was a member of the Société des gens de lettres. His amanuensis, Robert Desnos, became a renowned Surrealist poet.
Bonnefon co-authored a book with architect Georges Wybo.
A self-declared modernist and anti-clerical Catholic, Bonnefon was instrumental in the passing of the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State.
Lourdes controversy
Bonnefon was the subject of controversy for the publication in 1906 of a pamphlet, where he attacked the Lourdes apparitions as false. In it, Bonnefon claimed to have retrieved a letter, dated 28 December 1857, which allegedly proved that local authorities were aware that a false religious apparition was being prepared due to political reasons. The letter, which is not present in the Archives Nationales and whose original was never found has been deemed a forgery by several authors such as René Laurentin and Georges Bertrin, who point out how its content is contradicted by several certified documents of the time and how the language in it is contrary to the administrative uses of the Second French Empire.
Death
Bonnefon died on March 30, 1928, in his hometown of Calvinet.