David Kessler (24 February 1959 – 3 February 2020) was a French senior official. He served as Culture and Communication Adviser to the

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

from 2012 to 2014, and also served on numerous boards of directors.

Biography

David was the son of Paul Kessler, former director of research at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

, and Colette Kessler, who co-founded the

Liberal Jewish Movement of France The Liberal Jewish Movement of France or MJLF is a Jewish liberal cultural and religious association affiliated with the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Founded in 1977, the movement promotes Jewish religious and cultural life through its two ...

. He was also the brother of Emmanuel Kessler, a journalist. Kessler began studying at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud in 1977. He earned his

Agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

in philosophy in 1980, and later a master's degree in philosophy with a concentration on

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

. He was admitted into the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

(ENA), and upon graduating was assigned to the Conseil d'État. Kessler gave lectures at

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

from 1989 to 1991, and at the ENA from 1991 to 1998. From 1996 to 1997, Kessler served as the Director General of the

Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ''lit.'' ''Superior Audiovisual Council''), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the was a measure foun ...

(CSA). He then served as director for culture and communication to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

. He participated in the Young Leaders Program organized by the

French-American Foundation The French-American Foundation is a privately funded, non-governmental organization established to promote bilateral relations between France and the United States on topics of importance to the two countries, with a focus on contact between upco ...

in 1999. After this, Kessler served as an executive for numerous French corporations. From 2001 to 2004, Kessler was the Director General of the

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

(CNC). From 2005 to 2008, he was Director of

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentari ...

. He was President of the Conseil supérieur des musiques actuelles from 2006 to 2009. He was Deputy Director of

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...

in charge of content strategy from 2008 to 2009. Kessler directed the magazine ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

'', as well as the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

version of the ''

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'' from 2011 to 2012. He worked to help

RMC Story RMC Story, formerly known as Numéro 23 and initially as TVous La télédiversité, is a French independent TV television channel founded by Diversité TV France. It launched its broadcasts on 12 December 2012 and is the 23rd national television ...

, then called Numéro 23, rise to prominence with promotion of racial and sexual diversity. He supported the Isota Association, which promoted marriage and adoption for homosexual couples. Kessler was the adviser of radio and music to

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

from 2012 to 2014. He moved to the private sector after that, directing the cinema sector of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. After the death of his wife, Sophie Mesguich, he was remarried to Cyril Pigot in 2013. David Kessler died on 3 February 2020 at the age of 60.

Awards

*Knight of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

*Knight of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

*Commander of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, David 1959 births 2020 deaths People from Boulogne-Billancourt Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni École nationale d'administration alumni French people of Jewish descent