''La Dépêche tunisienne'' was a

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 ...

daily newspaper published in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

History and profile

''La Dépêche tunisienne'' was established in 1892 when the country was under the French protectorate. It was the first newspaper which was published regularly in Tunisia. Most literate French people in Tunisia at this time bought the paper.Serge La Barbera and

Lucette Valensi Lucette Valensi (born 1936) is a French historian ''née'' Lucette Chemla in Tunis. Biography After obtaining her bachelor's degree in history from the Sorbonne in 1958, she became a history and geography agrégée in 1963 then docteur d'Éta ...

, ''Les Français de Tunisie. 1930-1950'', éd.

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in W ...

, Paris, 2006, It also had a virtual monopoly on the daily French-language press in Tunisia via control of presses and titles such as '' Le Petit Matin''. Politically in favour of the right, it was financed by major groups in mainland France and by local businesses. It had a circulation figure of 35,000 until 1939. The paper ceased publication in 1961 due to financial problems.

In Literature

The paper is frequently referenced in Robert Harris' historical novel ''

An Officer and a Spy ''An Officer and a Spy'' is a 2013 historical fiction thriller by the English writer and journalist Robert Harris. It tells the true story of the French officer Georges Picquart from 1896 to 1906, as he struggles to expose the truth about the ...

'', a fictionalized biography of

Georges Picquart Marie-Georges Picquart (6 September 1854 – 19 January 1914) was a French Army officer and Minister of War. He is best known for his role in the Dreyfus affair, in which he played a key role in uncovering the real culprit. Early career Picqua ...

. As depicted in the book, the Dépêche was the means by which Picquart, effectively exiled to Tunisia by the army command, could keep up with developments in the

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. Relying on telegraph, the paper was able to publish up to date Paris news, while it took four days for physical copies of the Paris newspapers to reach Tunisia.

References

1890s establishments in Tunisia 1892 establishments in Africa 1961 disestablishments in Tunisia Publications established in 1892 Publications disestablished in 1961 Defunct newspapers published in Tunisia French-language newspapers published in Tunisia {{Tunisia-newspaper-stub