Éric Fottorino (born 26 August 1960) is a French journalist and writer. He is the winner of the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French List of literary awards, literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or Verse (poetry), verse by male ...

, 2007, for ''Baisers de cinéma''. After having been a reporter for the daily newspaper ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', then becoming editor-in-chief and executive editor, he was appointed president of the directory group of the La Vie-Le Monde group in January 2008. He was removed from this latter office in December 2010.

Biography

His biological father, Maurice Maman, was of Moroccan-Jewish origin and was a gynaecology student when he met his mother. The ultra-Catholic family of his mother, Monique Charbrerie, was opposed to their marriage. The young Eric was raised without his father. When he was 9, his mother married Michael Fottorino, a physiotherapist. It's at this time that he took the name of Eric Fottorino. It was only years later that he managed to contact his biological father. In 1984, after studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of La Rochelle and then at the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, Eric Fottorino started as a freelance reporter for ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' and '' La Tribune de l'économie''. He joined the daily newspaper ''

'' in 1986, initially as a news desk editor, tracking records of incoming source material, eventually moving on to work with agricultural and African source material. He then became a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

(1995-1997) before becoming

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

in 1998, then a ''chroniqueur'' (a journalist who writes as a specialist in a particular domain) in 2003. After preparing a new format of ''

'', launched in November 2005, he was appointed as the director of publication in March 2006. In June 2007, after the ousting of

Jean-Marie Colombani Jean-Marie Colombani (born 7 July 1948 in Dakar, Senegal) is a French journalist, and was the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper ''Le Monde'' from 1994 until 2007. Biography Educated at Panthéon-Assas University and Science-Po, he is the ...

following the negative vote of the Society of LeMonde Editors (Société des rédacteurs du Monde or SRM), he was elected director of the journal after receiving over 60% of the votes. On 19 December 2007, he resigned from his position, along with two other board members of the La Vie-Le Monde group, Pierre Jeantet and Bruno Patino, due to financial disagreements with the Society of LeMonde Editors (SRM). In a statement to France Inter, he accuses the SRM of "playing the roles of both arsonist and firefighter" calling into question the group's strategy. On 4 January 2008, when Pierre Jeantet and Bruno Patino confirmed their resignations, Eric Fottorino decided not to resign after all. On 5 January 2008, in the newspaper's

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expresses the publication's opinion about ...

, he explained that he went back on his decision so as not to add another crisis on top of the current one. He also presented himself as a candidate for the post of president of the directory group of the La Vie-Le Monde group, with the support the Editor's Group (SRM), initially for a term of six years. Newly emboldened, he then decided to apply for a full term of ten years, to prevent

Alain Minc Alain Minc (; born 15 April 1949) is a French businessman, political advisor and author. Biography Early life Alain Minc was born on April 15, 1949, in Paris to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland. His father, Joseph Minkowski, was a den ...

, the chairman of the supervisory board, from appointing a provisional president. After a first provisional refusal of his application on 14 January, he was finally elected president of the directory group on 25 January 2008, succeeding Pierre Jeantet. On 15 December 2010, he was dismissed by the supervisory board of ''

''.

Other activities

Between 1992 and 1995, Eric Fottorino was a lecturer at the

(the Political Studies Institute of Paris). An experienced amateur cyclist, Eric Fottorino participated in the

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation co ...

in 2001, a mid-mountain cycling event (organized at the time by the La Vie-Le Monde group), an experience he recounts in his books ''Je pars demain'' and ''Petit éloge de la bicyclette''. Eric Fottorino is also known as a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist, having received numerous awards for his work, including the ''Prix Europe'' and the ''Prix des Bibliothécaires'' for ''Un territoire fragile'' (2000), the ''Prix François Mauriac'' from the

French Academy French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

(an annual prize for literature established in 1994) for ''Caresse de rouge'' (2004) and the ''

'' for ''Baisers de cinéma'' (2007). On 14 June 2009, he was interviewed by Catherine Ceylac in the show "''Thé ou café''" (Tea or coffee) for the television station

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

, whose website states: "to celebrate the release of ''100 récits exceptionnels - Le Monde - les grands reportages 1944 – 2009'' (100 outstanding accounts – LeMonde - major stories 1944 – 2009) published by Éditions Les Arènes and of ''L'homme qui m'aimait tout bas'' published by Gallimard. Additional information: the book ''À chacun son défi'' published by Éditions Solar."

Bibliography

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

: ''Le Festin de la terre'', Lieu commun, 1988, *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

: ''La France en friche'' *

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

: ''Rochelle'' *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

: ''Besoin d'Afrique'' *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

: ''L'Homme de terre'' *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

: ''Les Éphémères'' *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

: ''Aventures industrielles'' *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

: ''Cœur d'Afrique'' (''Prix Amerigo Vespucci'') *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: ''Nordeste''; Gallimard, 2008, *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

: ''Un territoire fragile''; Gallimard, 2009, (''Prix Europe 1'' et le ''Prix des Bibliothécaires'') *

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

: ''Je pars demain'' *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

: ''C'est mon tour'' *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: ''Caresse de rouge'' (''Prix François Mauriac'' from the

) *

: ''Korsakov'' (Prix des libraires and Prix France Télévisions) *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: ''Le Tiers sauvage'' *

: ''Lire tue'', avec Nicolas Vial *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: ''Baisers de cinéma'' Gallimard, 2007, (''

'') *

: ''Petit éloge de la bicyclette'' *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: ''L'Homme qui m'aimait tout bas'', Gallimard, 2009, *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: ''Questions à mon père'' *

: ''Paris Plages : De 1900 à aujourd'hui''

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fottorino, Eric Writers from Nice 1960 births Living people 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Prix Femina winners Prix des libraires winners Sciences Po alumni 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French male novelists French people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Cycling journalists Cycling writers 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers La Rochelle University