Jean-René Van der Plaetsen (born 9 August 1962) is a French journalist and writer. He is Deputy Managing Editor of ''

Le Figaro Magazine ''Le Figaro Magazine'' is a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris, France. The magazine is the weekly supplement of the daily newspaper ''Le Figaro''. History and profile The magazine is the first supplement of ''Le Figaro'' n ...

''. He has also been a member of the jury of the

Prix de Flore The Prix de Flore is a French literary prize founded in 1994 by Frédéric Beigbeder. The aim of the prize is to reward youthful authors and is judged by a panel of journalists. It is awarded yearly in November, at the Café de Flore in Paris. The ...

since its creation in 1994.

Life

Born in Lubumbashi, Republic of the Congo (former Belgian Congo), Van der Plaetsen studied at the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly (Paris), the then at the Collège Saint-Sulpice (Paris). He holds a law degree from the

Paris Descartes University Paris Descartes University (french: Université Paris 5 René Descartes, links=no), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 ...

and is a former student of

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

''Le Figaro'' and ''Le Figaro Magazine''

Van der Plaetsen joined '' Le Figaro'' in 1988, where he spent his entire career, including ''le Figaro littéraire'', culture, and politics (of which he was head of department), then editor-in-chief. In January 2008, , then promoted to managing editor of ''Le Figaro Magazine'', brought him to the magazine and appointed him deputy managing editor, a position he still holds today. A friend of Michel Houellebecq, he conducted a series of very long interviews with him, entitled ''Un été avec Michel Houellebecq'', which appeared in five episodes in ''Le Figaro Magazine'' during the summer of 2015. We see the author of '' Atomised'' confiding in complete freedom on the most diverse subjects - and interacting with philosopher

Alain Finkielkraut Alain Finkielkraut (, ; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French philosopher and public intellectual. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics, many on the ideas of tradition and identitary nonviolence, including Jewish identity and ant ...

and rock-star

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

Work

* ', Paris, Éditions Grasset et Fasquelle, 2017, 240 p. –

Grand Prix Jean Giono The Grand prix Jean Giono () is a French literary prize. It was established in 1990 at the initiative of Michel Albert, to honour the writer Jean Giono. Since 1992 it consists of two categories: the Jean Giono Grand Prize (Grand prix Jean Giono) a ...

2017; Prix Interallié 2017. :: - Description of the heroic act of the and the Compagnons de la Libération during the Second World War, as well as those of Indochina and Algéria through the itinerary of his maternal grandfather, the army general

Jean Crépin Jean Crépin (1 September 1908 – 4 May 1996) was a French Army officer during World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. A lifelong Gaullist, he played a decisive role in many conflicts of the 20th century. He is also ...

, in whom the writer Bernard-Henri Lévy sees "one of the most luminous figures in the epic of Free France". "The strength of this book", writes the academician

Jean-Marie Rouart Jean-Marie Rouart (born 8 April 1943 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French novelist, essayist and journalist. He was elected to the Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institutio ...

, "is because it does not only evoke the author's grandfather, he speaks to us about us, about France, about a universe and a painful military sensitivity. Because, through a character, he reveals a tragedy to us. The officers' ordeal, in the fateful period 1940-1965, has rarely been illuminated in such a fair light."

Franz-Olivier Giesbert Franz-Olivier Giesbert (born January 18, 1949, in Wilmington, Delaware) is an American-born French journalist, author, and television presenter. Giesbert worked for ''Le Figaro'' from 1988 to 2000 and for '' Le Point'' starting in 2000. In 2013 ...

, journalist and writer, also praised the book as follows: "Through the shocking account of the feats of his grandfather, hero of the Second World War and companion of General de Gaulle, Jean-René Van der Plaetsen pays tribute to this endangered value in a book that smells of heaven and clean air: The Nostalgia of Honour."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaetsen, Jean-René Van der 1962 births Living people People from Lubumbashi Sciences Po alumni 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists 21st-century French writers 21st-century French essayists Prix Interallié winners Grand prix Jean Giono recipients Prix Renaudot des lycéens winners