Robert Buron

Robert Buron was a centrist French politician who played a role in the "epuration" (purge) of the country's film industry beginning in the fall of 1944. While not as well known or as long lasting as the later Hollywood era of the blacklist and HUAC hearings ,this purge had a similar effect in shortening the careers of some actors and directors by shaming them for having stayed in France and having worked under the German dominated business during the Occupation.Only in this case, rather than liberals and leftists being targeted as later in America, it was the leftists especially the Communists then influential in France who here cast judgment on the supposed Nazi collaborators. Buron was born in Paris on February 27th, 1910 and died there on April 28th, 1973 though during the last few years of his life he was Mayor of Laval, where a high school is named for him.During two governments in the 1950s he also served in several ministerial posts.He was also involved in the building of the multi-country OECD (Organization for Economic and Cultural Development.)