He was in turn a pearl fisherman, arms trafficker and spy, a destiny like no other inspiring Marcel Pagnol, Hergé and Hugo Pratt. The travel writer Henry de Monfreid (1879-1974) is at the heart of an exhibition at the Aude departmental archives in Carcassonne.
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/05/01/000-arp1279111-663249a29842a381992584.jpg)
How many lives did Henry de Monfreid live? Difficult to answer as this man’s life experienced so many twists and turns. This authentic traveler, an essential figure among 20th century adventurers, was in turn a pearl fisherman, smuggler, arms dealer, watercolorist and writer. Joseph Kessel, met in Africa, said of him that he was a “old pirate”.
If the departmental archives of Aude in Carcassonne devote an exhibition to him entitled From here and adventuresis that they benefit from an important documentary collection left by his family.
La Franqui, his native land
Henry de Monfreid may have spent a large part of his life in the Horn of Africa, but he always remained linked to his native land. The adventurer-writer was born in Aude à la Franqui, one of the oldest seaside resorts on the Languedoc coast, in the town of Leucate.
“There is a memory that is engraved in his memory, it is the Cap des Trois Frères, à la Franqui, testifies his grandson Guillaume de Monfreid. A very particular silhouette that he represented in many of his watercolors at the end of his life. And even at the very beginning when he was 14 years old. So we see clearly that Henri’s identity is first and foremost La Franqui.”
THE Cape of the Three Brothers was also the title of one of his works published by Grasset.
:quality(50)/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.webservices.francetelevisions.fr%2Fv1%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fbb%2F3a%2F97%2Fea33f823-a0f1-4302-b356-762bdff000e0.jpg)
Henry de Monfreid exhibition
Henry de Monfreid exhibition
(France 3 Midi-Pyrénées – Eric Henry / Olivier Journiat)
An incredible surge of freedom
The exhibition also bears witness to the fascination that Henry de Monfreid had on many of his contemporaries. Hugo Pratt was inspired by the character in one of his comic strips, Hergé, too, made him a sulphurous character alongside Tintin in the Pharaoh’s Cigars.
“We have manuscripts by Marcel Pagnol, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and General de Gaulle which we are exhibiting today,” agrees Carole Renard, director of the Aude departmental archives.
Henry de Monfreid was also an arms trafficker, close to Mussolini’s troops during their conquest of Ethiopia, and a drug trafficker. From this controversial past, his grandson especially wishes to remember the incredible impulse for freedom which guided the life of his ancestor.
“The man was still born free and that’s what he actually defends, that’s what makes the character interesting, his grandson enthuses. His smuggling in itself is of no interest but what is interesting is why he does it, he does it to be free.”
Have you ever seen a smuggler who stops, puts down his easel and paints a watercolor? You will tell me, we dream and no, we don’t dream, it’s our freedom!
William of Monfreidgrandson of Henry de Monfreid
In the shadows or the light, Henri de Monfreid lived as he saw fit. Author of more than 70 works, he had the talent to write his life like a novel.
Exhibition “Dici and adventures, Henry de Monfreid”, du April 4, 2024 to January 3, 2025, departmental archives of Aude, Carcassonne.