History

The Living Unknown Soldier

Throughout the inter-war period, one man fascinated the French public. His photo was frequently seen on the front page of the papers. He inspired writers, playwrights and filmmakers. His name was Anthelme Mangin. His nickname was ´The living unknown soldier´. He was an amnesiac soldier who returned to France from a German prison camp in 1918. As soon as his existence became known, he was saddled with the pain of the three hundred thousand families of soldiers who never returned, who were unable to grieve. Dozens of women, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children claimed him as their missing loved one, despite his physical appearance, age and education. There was even a trial where a dozen families tried to get him formally identified as their kin, before the Second World War interrupted the proceedings. Moved from asylum to asylum, he would finally die alone and abandoned by all in Sainte-Anne, in 1942.