Jean-Paul Enthoven (born 11 January 1949) is a French publisher and journalist.''

Who's Who in France ''Who's Who in France'' is a biographical dictionary published in France and written in French. In France it is simply "le ''Who's Who''". History The first edition of ''Who's Who in France'' was published in 1953 by Jacques Lafitte. In 197 ...

'', 2008 edition, .

Biography

Early life and education

Born in

Mascara Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara product has vario ...

near

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

, Enthoven comes from a bourgeois Jewish family. His mother was born Gilberte Tordjman and his father, Edmond Enthoven, was a businessman who made his fortune in real estate and cinema management. In this completely

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

Jewish family environment, his political socialization took place in a very republican atmosphere, attached to moral considerations such as the defense of human rights and found himself in the political figure of a Clemenceau. His family was linked to the Oranese intellectual elite, notably with philosopher André Bénichou, director of the Descartes course which many French academics attended during the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. Thus his parents became close to

Pierre Nora Pierre Nora (born 17 November 1931) is a French historian elected to the Académie française on 7 June 2001. He is known for his work on French identity and memory. His name is associated with the study of new history. He is the brother of t ...

and the latter helped their son when he became a boarder at

Lycée Lakanal Lycée Lakanal is a public secondary school in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a midd ...

in Sceaux. Jean-Paul Enthoven was then very close to the "Nora family", Pierre Nora being its "

Cicerone Cicerone ( ) is an old term for a guide who conducts visitors and sightseers to museums, galleries, etc., and explains matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historic or artistic interest. The word is presumably taken from Marcus Tullius Cicero, ...

".According to the Jean-Paul Enthoven's expression in his interview with François Kraus on 2 September 2004. After attending the

lycée Buffon The Lycée Buffon is a secondary school in the XVe arrondissement of Paris, bordered by boulevard Pasteur, the rue de Vaugirard and the rue de Staël. Its nearest métro station is Pasteur. It is named for Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffo ...

, he entered the

lycée Janson-de-Sailly Lycée Janson de Sailly is a ''lycée'' located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic ins ...

where he took philosophy classes from

Maurice Clavel Maurice Clavel () (1920-1979) was a French writer, journalist, and philosophy, philosopher. Youth Maurice Clavel was born on 10 November 1920 in Frontignan, Hérault to a family headed by a father who was a pharmacist. This conservative milieu o ...

. The latter noticed him among the heads of the class and made him meet

Gabriel Marcel Gabriel Honoré Marcel (7 December 1889 – 8 October 1973) was a French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused on the modern ...

but especially

Pierre Boutang Pierre Boutang (20 September 1916 – 27 June 1998) was a French philosopher, poet and translator. He was also a political journalist, associated with the currents of Charles Maurras, Maurrasianism and Royalism. Biography Boutang was an alumnus ...

whose influence plunged him for a time into "self-hatred". He was then a student at the Faculty of Letters at

Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humaniti ...

and at the

Faculté de droit de Paris The Faculty of Law of Paris (french: Faculté de droit de Paris), called from the late 1950s to 1970 the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris, is the second-oldest faculty of law in the world and one of the four and eventually five faculties ...

. He obtained a degree in history, a diploma from the Institute of Political Studies, a DES in public law and political science.

Career

Although anchored on the left, he missed

May 68 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

by preferring literature to ideological debates. The readings he made at

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

around 1971/1972 gave him the opportunity to meet

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his 19 ...

. If he did not become a disciple, the latter led him to detach himself very quickly from a

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

to which readings had led him to adhere. And he defined himself as Spinozo-

nietzschean Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Repres ...

when, in 1973, he became assistant to

Maurice Duverger Maurice Duverger (5 June 1917 – 16 December 2014) was a French jurist, sociologist, political scientist and politician born in Angoulême, Charente. Starting his career as a jurist at the University of Bordeaux, Duverger became more and ...

at the Sorbonne. An assistant at the university Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne from 1973 to 1975, he meets a young philosopher who has just returned from Bangladesh,

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political acti ...

. Falling under the spell of the normalien, he presented him in the autumn of 1974 to his friend Gilles Hertzog, who thus participated in the life of the ephemeral daily ''L'Imprévu'' (January–February 1975). Despite the failure of Bernard-Henri Lévy's daily, the trio's friendship grew stronger around him to the point of appearing to be a true "sibling" where Jean-Paul Enthoven would, in his own words, be "Bernard's Minister of the Interior, and Gilles, his State Secretary for Foreign Affairs". At the same time, his ties with

brought him into contact with

Jean Daniel Jean Daniel Bensaid (21 July 1920 – 19 February 2020) was a French journalist and author. He was the founder and executive editor of ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' weekly now known as ''L'Obs''. Life and career Daniel was born in Blida, Algeria, a ...

and the staff of ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), 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 ...

''. From December 1973 onwards, he published reviews of essays in philosophy and human sciences. It was then that in 1975, he did not appreciate being solicited by

as a character witness in a trial about his Vichyst past. He thus resigned from teaching and turned to journalism. He was a journalist and then assistant to the chief editor of ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' until 1984. He was responsible for covering intellectual debates, interviews with leading intellectual figures, reviews of political and philosophical essays, and all current events affecting the intellectual world. Close to

- whom he occasionally replaces for his television column - he is nonetheless much appreciated by the editor of the newspaper who consults him for the choice of a word in his editorial or the ongoing debates in the Parisian microcosm. With the latter two, he actively supports the media blossoming of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" and their leader, his friend Bernard-Henri Lévy. He admired the latter immensely and had such strong ties with him that all they lacked was "to be homosexual in order to mix and mingle", even more than they are. Witness at his wedding (like Gilles Hertzog), having breakfast every Saturday morning with him, he shares his passions as his concern for aesthetic appearance. From the early 1980s, he took on more and more editorial responsibilities. Thus, in 1983, he took over the direction of the "Biblio-Essais" series founded by Bernard-Henri Lévy at Grasset. In 1984, he left his position as Assistant Editor-in-Chief of ''the Nouvel Observateur'' to head the Hachette-Littérature publishing house. In 1986, he returned to the publishing house Grasset & Fasquelle as editorial director. Since 1993, he has been editorial advisor to the editorial board of the weekly magazine ''

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 ...

'' where he publishes literary reviews. In 1997, he co-wrote the film ''

Day and Night Day and Night and its variants may refer to: Books *''Day and Night'', poems 1924-1934 by New Zealand poet Ursula Bethell *''Day and Night'', children's book by Teddy Newton based on Pixar's '' Day & Night'' *''Day and Night'', children's book by ...

'' with Bernard-Henri Lévy. Since 2011, he has been a member of the jury of the .

Private life

Enthoven is the father of three children with

Catherine David Catherine David (born 1954) is a French art historian, curator and museum director. David was the first woman and the first non-German speaker to curate documenta X in Kassel, Germany (21 June – 28 September 1997). David is currently depu ...

: * Raphaël, agrégé in philosophy who married

Justine Lévy Justine-Juliette Lévy (born 27 September 1974) is a French book editor and author. Life and career Lévy is the eldest daughter of Isabelle Doutreluigne and French philosopher, writer, and media personality, Bernard-Henri Lévy. Her 1995 deb ...

, the daughter of the family's great friend

, before leaving her for

Carla Bruni Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

. * Julien, second role actor seen in particular in 2009 in ' by

Yann Moix Yann Moix (, ; born 31 March 1968) is a French author, film director and television presenter. He is the author of ten novels and the recipient of several literary prizes. He has directed three films. He was a columnist on '' On n'est pas couch� ...

with

Franck Dubosc Franck Dubosc (; born 7 November 1963) is a French actor, comedian and stand-up artist. Dubosc occupies 94th place in the list of the most profitable actors of French cinema.

as well as in the new version of ''

The Accursed Kings ''The Accursed Kings'' (french: Les Rois maudits ) is a series of Historical fiction, historical novels by French author Maurice Druon about the French monarchy in the 14th century. Published between 1955 and 1977, the series has been adapted a ...

'' in 2005. * and Mathilde, a journalist. On 4 December 1981, Jean-Paul Enthoven married Corinne Pécas, daughter of

Max Pécas Max Pécas (25 April 1925 in Lyon – 10 February 2003 in Paris) was a French filmmaker, writer and producer. Pécas was assistant director to Jacques Daroy and others from 1948 to 1957. After making erotic movies and thrillers through the 1960s ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and producer of erotic films. In 2000, he was

Carla Bruni Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

's companion, before she left him for his own son Raphaël, who was the subject of her song "Raphaël", and with whom she has a son, Aurélien, born in 2001. Jean-Paul Enthoven, divorced from Corinne Pécas, is today the husband of the Italian-Argentine journalist Patricia Della Giovampaola, widow of Rodolphe de Belzunce d'Arenberg. In September 2020 he publicly disowned his son Raphaël, after the latter published an autobiography. Enthoven complained about his private life being made public, asking his son to "show restraint" and cut off all contact.

Works

* ''Les Enfants de Saturne'', Grasset, 1996, prix Cazes-Lipp and

prix Valery-Larbaud The Prix Valery Larbaud is a French literary prize created in 1967, ten years after writer Valery Larbaud's death, by ''L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud'', an organization dedicated to the promotion of his works. The prize is ...

in 1997, * ''Aurore'', Grasset, 2001, prix du livre

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...

in 2001, * ''La Dernière Femme'', Grasset, 2006, prix Nice Baie des anges en 2006, * ''Ce que nous avons eu de meilleur'', Grasset, 2008 * ', Grasset, 2012 * ''Dictionnaire amoureux de Proust'', with Raphaël Enthoven, Plon, 2013 -

prix Femina essai The prix Femina essai is a French literary prize awarded to an essay. Established in 1999, it replaced the prix Femina Vacaresco.Yann Moix Yann Moix (, ; born 31 March 1968) is a French author, film director and television presenter. He is the author of ten novels and the recipient of several literary prizes. He has directed three films. He was a columnist on '' On n'est pas couch� ...

in which his son Julien Enthoven played a part.

Distinctions

Enthoven is an officier 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

External links

Une analyse de L'Hypothèse des sentiments sur La Cause Littéraire
* Interview of Jean-Paul and Raphaël Enthoven at the Lexnews journal for the publication of the ''Dictionnaire amoureux de Marcel Proust'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enthoven, Jean-Paul 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French Sephardi Jews 21st-century French writers 1949 births Algerian Jews French people of Algerian-Jewish descent French publishers (people) Living people Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni Lycée Lakanal alumni Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Paris-Sorbonne University alumni People from Mascara, Algeria Pieds-Noirs Prix Femina essai winners Sciences Po alumni