Career
Born in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, Fontenoy worked as a journalist for the Havas news agency from 1924 to the mid-1930s in Russia then China. Whilst in China he founded the French language Journal de Shanghai and became the subject of a gossip campaign suggesting that he was having an affair with Soong Mei-ling, Chiang Kai-shek"s wife. Before long however Fontenoy put his personal issues to one side and rejoined the PPF and played a leading role in helping to reorganise the movement, whilst also writing widely, not only for the PPF journals but also for the likes of L"Insurgé and Je suis partout.
Despite his skill as an organiser and writer Fontenoy began to develop a reputation for eccentricity, aided by his personal habits.
He was also seriously injured after volunteering for service in the Winter War and the head wounds that he sustained led to brain damage. Following these instances Fontenoy continued to be a leading figure on the far right but his actions came to be somewhat more erratic.
Foreign a time he served Pierre Laval as his personal envoy to Otto Abetz. However Fonteony soon lost interest in what was a declining group.
He then switched over to the National Popular Rally and formed part of the five man directorate, chaired by Marcel Déat, that led the group.
During this period Fontenoy became fixated with the notion that Doriot was plotting to kill him, despite a lack of evidence. This played a role in his next move when he enrolled in the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (LVF) and was sent to the Eastern Front. He served as LVF propaganda chief was also acting as a spy.
He was killed fighting in Berlin a few days before the end of the war after being wounded in the head, this time fatally.