Between 1930s and 1940s, French authorities put on the famous painter Picasso such labels as “Anarchist”, “traitor”, “Spanish with a few French words”, and “a communist”. On this account, they also rejected Picasso’s twice application for French nationality, which made Picasso fail to become a Frenchman by narrow chance. At a recent exhibition of file held by French National Policy Agency, this shameful experience has been made public.
Many visitors’ attention has been drawn upon a special letter, which says, “respected government minister, it’s my great honor to apply for…” At the end of this letter, the celebrated Spanish painter Picasso’s name was signed there. At that time, it was the dictator Franco who was in charge of Spanish national power and worked hand in glove with Hitler by forging an alliance. Picasso’s application for French nationality was rejected because he was Spanish and Span was a hostile country of France.
From the files on display, people can also find that Picasso has been inspected by French police since the very moment when he set his feet on French soil.
Ten years later after his first application for French nationality, Picasso renewed his application for French nationality. In that time, Picasso was not only very wealthy, but also became a celebrity and made not a few French friends. In order to show his loyalty to France, he also paid French government a huge amount of tax-seventy Francs. French police also thought that he had become socialized, so they agreed his application. Unexpectedly, French Intelligence Agency suddenly involved in this issue, putting on him such labels as “extremist” and “once a communist” etc, so his application was rejected again. Picasso was so disappointed that he never made an application since.
