Yann Goulet (or Yann Renard-Goulet; Saint-Nazaire, August 20 1914– Bray 1999) was a sculptor, Breton nationalist and war-time collaborationist with Nazi Germany who headed the Breton Bagadou Storm militia. He later took Irish citizenship.
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Early career
Before World War II, Goulet was a member of the Breton National Party, and a former member of SFIO. His artistic career began at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, where he studied art and architecture, and learned sculpture with Rodin's assistant, Despiau. His works in France include bas-reliefs shown at the Exposition International de Paris (1938), and the monument to the youth of the French empire in Lille (1939). He was part of the Breton artistic movement Seiz Breur. Goulet's involvement in Breton nationalism led to accusations that he had orchestrated the destruction the Monument to the Breton-Angevin Federation at Pontivy on December 18 1938 by Gwenn ha du, the nationalist terrorist group. He was detained, but then released.
World War II
French army
In 1939, he was sent to Strasbourg to study the art of sabotage. He participated in the beginning of World War II fighting for France, and was captured by the Germans on June 11, 1940 while blowing up a bridge on the Aisne with friends from a French corps.
Bagadou Stourm
- See also: Breton nationalism and World War II
Later in the war, he joined the assault section of Bagadou Stourm, Breton nationalist stormtroopers allied to the Germans. He also collaborated with the pro-Nazi nationalist newspaper L'Heure Bretonne. In 1941 in Paris, he became head of Bagadou Stourm and the "Youth Organizations" of the Parti National Breton. The promotion of Bagadou Stourm officers was named "Patrick Pearse" as a way of celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ireland's 1916 Easter Rising. His aim was to bring back an Irish influence (that of the IRA) different from that of Célestin Lainé's rival militia group Lu Brezhon, with which relations worsened after 1941. While Lainé's group functioned as an integrated part of the German security forces, Goulet always insisted that Bagadou Stourm was an independent Breton army.
Artistic career in Ireland
After the liberation of France Goulet was condemned to death as a Collaborationist . He escaped with his wife and children to Ireland in 1947 as refugees. He acquired Irish citizenship in 1952 and became an art professor. Goulet was commissioned to create many public works commemorating the IRA and other Republicans. These included the Custom House Memorial in Dublin, the East Mayo Brigade IRA Memorial, and the Republican Memorial in Crossmaglen; and the Ballyseedy Memorial to IRA men shot by the Free State government in the Irish Civil War. Goulet exhibited regularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy, eventually becoming the RHA Professor of Sculpture. He was also made a member of Aosdána in 1982.[1]
Liberation Front of Brittany
Towards the end of the 1960s, he claimed to have taken the reins of the Liberation Front of Brittany and to have been behind all their attacks. In 1968, the head of police in Brey charged him of the previous day's attack on the CRS barracks in Saint-Brieuc . All his supposed subordinates were volunteers. His friends called him tonton Yann, but sceptics referred to him as général micro. In 1969, he became secretary general for the CBL (Comité National de la Bretagne Libre). In reality, he never exerted much influence on the renewal of Breton autonomy. Goulet has always stood by his "national revolution that passed us by in 1940". His reputation in Ireland has been controversial.[2]
References
External links
Sculpture of a Group of Workmen in Procession, by Yann Goulet
