François Debré (3 April 1942 – 14 September 2020) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

writer and journalist. Winner of the

Albert Londres Prize The Albert Londres Prize is the highest French journalism award, named in honor of journalist Albert Londres. Created in 1932, it was first awarded in 1933 and is considered the French equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. Three laureates are awarded ...

in 1977, he was a member of the

Société des gens de lettres Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

Biography

The second son of

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 ...

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

and his wife, Anne-Marie Lemaresquier, François was also the brother of Vincent, Jean-Louis, and

Bernard Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

. Additionally, he was the grandson of

Robert Debré Robert Debré (7 December 1882 – 29 April 1978) was a French physician (pediatrician) at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. The largest pediatric hospital in Paris, l'Hôpital Robert-Debré - located in the North-East part of Paris (19 ...

and the nephew of

Olivier Debré Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter. Biography It was following a visit to Pablo Picasso’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figura ...

. After studying law and eastern languages, he joined the magazine ''

Afrique contemporaine ''Afrique contemporaine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by De Boeck Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show t ...

'' in 1966 before becoming a freelance journalist in 1968. Between 1968 and 1977, he covered numerous conflicts around the world. He worked in

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

for ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', and in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

for ''

L'Obs (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

'' and ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

''. In 1968, he won the Prix de la critique indépendante for his essay on the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

. Debré was regarded as one of the most talented reporters of his generation. In the early 1970s, he worked numerous reports for

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...

, Antenne 2, and France Régions 3 in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He joined TF1's foreign policy service in 1977. He was a major reporter for the channel until 1985. He covered several major events, such as the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

, the start of

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and the dismissal of

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its s ...

in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. In 1977, he won the Prix Albert-Londres for his essay on the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

, titled ''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt''. He returned from South-East Asia with an opiate addiction. In 1988, he directed magazines for Antenne 2, where he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief. On 16 December 2011, Debré was given a two-month suspended sentence for his involvement in

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

's scheme to raise money for his presidential run while serving as Mayor of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Debré was married to Maylis Ybarnegaray, daughter of

Jean Ybarnégaray Michel Albert Jean Joseph Ybarnégaray (; 16 October 1883 – 25 April 1956) was a French Basque politician and founder of the International Federation of Basque Pelota. Jean Ybarnegaray was born in Uhart-Cize, Department of Pyrénées-Atlant ...

, with whom he had two daughters: the novelist

Constance Debré Constance Debré, born in 1972, is a French lawyer and novelist. Biography Constance Debré's parents were journalist François Debré (1942–2020) and former model Maylis Ybarnégaray (1942–1988); the judge and politician Jean-Louis Debré ...

and the journalist at ''

'' Ondine. He died following a long illness in

Montlouis-sur-Loire Montlouis-sur-Loire (, literally ''Montlouis on Loire'') is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It was mentioned in the 6th century as ''vicus montis Laudiacensis'' by Gregory of Tours. Population Events Since 1987, t ...

on 14 September 2020 at the age of 78, one day after the death of his brother, Bernard.

Works

Feature films

*''Éthiopie, les dernières années du Negus'' *''Le Petit Livre rouge'' *''Les Chinois de la diaspora'' *''La Remontée du Mekong'' *''Les Trottoirs de Manille'' *''La Quadrature des cercles'' *''Les Narcotiques anonymes''

Screenwriting

*''L'Amiral aux pieds nus'' *''La Ballade de Menardeau'' *''L'Homme de pouvoir'' *''Possession vaut titre''

Publications

*''La Vingt-et-unième Chinoise'' (1968) *''Biafra an II'' (1968) *''Premier crime'' (1975) *''Les Chinois de la diaspora'' (1976) *''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt'' (1977) *''Le Livre des égarés'' (1979) *''Les Fêtes d'automne'' (1983) *''Trente ans avec sursis'' (1998) *''Le Livre des Égarés'' (2019)

Awards

*Prix de la critique indépendante for ''Biafra an II'' (1968) *Prix Albert-Londres for ''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt'' (1977) *Grand prix du festival international de Monte-Carlo for ''Les Trottoirs de Manille'' (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debre, Francois 1942 births 2020 deaths 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French screenwriters 21st-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French male writers French male journalists French male screenwriters French people of Jewish descent Writers from Toulouse