Ferdinand Lop was a writer, teacher, poet, street artist, and perennial candidate for the Presidency of the French Republic. He campaigned for the office during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. The issues he advocated included eliminating poverty (but only after 10 PM), extending the Boulevard St. Michel to the English Channel with a comfort station every 50 yards, nationalizing brothels, providing an annual allowance to the widow of the unknown soldier, and relocating Paris to the countryside so that its residents could enjoy fresher air. He called this program of reform "Lopeotherapy."

When he campaigned he was often flanked by his various Ministers: the Minister of Information, Propaganda and Cults, the Minister of Folklore and Sex, the Minister of Tobacco and Health, the Minister of the General Situation, the Minister of Justice, Sports and Leisure, and the Minister of the Fight against the Opposition.

His supporters (principally Latin Quarter students) called themselves Le Front Lopulaire and derisively referred to his opponents as "anti-Lopes".

Even his opponents acknowledged his bravery during the German occupation when he spoke out against the Nazis and Vichy. Once, when the Gestapo raided one of his meetings, he remarked, as he climbed out a back window to escape: "We do not retreat. We advance backward for strategic purposes."

When Lop died in 1974, his obituary recalled that, in addition to being one of the Latin Quarter's best known "characters," he had also been arrested by British police in 1959 after saying he was going to marry Princess Margaret.

You can view a video of Lop at ina.fr.