The study deals with the destinies of the French researcher in Slavonic studies Andre Mazon (1880-1967), a graduate of the 'Ecole nationale des Langues orientales vivantes' and subsequently a professor at the 'College de France', within the context of the engagement of French intellectuals of that time for the benefit of their warring homeland. At first, Andre Mazon was a translator with the French navy in the Mediterranean; in its services, he conducted a political mission to Montenegro. During his presence on the Salonica front, he worked as an interpreter, promoter and reporter. In this role, he visited the Bulgarian Zograf monastery in Athos. In 1917, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent him to Russia to work as a reporter and documenter. He spent almost four months in jail after an attack on Lenin took place in August 1918. After he was released, he continued his research activities. Mazon's fate is an interesting manifestation of the efforts of a European intellectual of the 20th century to become useful in the social and political fields.
