André Fontaine (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France; 30 March 1921 – ''

ibidem Ibid. or ib. is an abbreviation for the Latin word '' ibīdem'', meaning , commonly used in an endnote, footnote, bibliography citation, or scholarly reference to refer to the source cited in the preceding note or list item. This is similar to ...

'', 17 March 2013) was a French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

journalist 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 ...

. He started working at ''Temps Présent'', and then was director at ''

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 ...

'' in 1947, at the official beginning of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. He became the newspaper's

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

from 1969 to 1985, and director from 1985 to 1991. As of February 2007 he was still contributing articles to the paper. André Fontaine is famous for his historical thesis, according to which the

in fact started as soon as 1917 with the cordon sanitaire policy. Fontaine died in Paris on 17 March 2013, aged 91.

Biography

His father Georges Fontaine, a sales clerk, was awarded the

Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France) The '' 1914–1918'' () was a French military decoration, the first version of the . It was created to recognize French and allied soldiers who were cited for valorous service during World War I, similar to the British '' mentioned in dispatche ...

. André Fontaine graduated from the

Society of Mary (Marianists) The Society of Mary (, abbreviated S.M.) is a clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men ( brothers and priests) commonly known as the Marianists or Marianist Brothers and Priests. Members append the post-nominal letters "S.M ...

Lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie de Monceau with a licentiate in literature, and advanced degrees in public law and political economy. He writes short stories while convalescing from measles. In July 1942, he submitted them to the Catholic weekly Temps présent, which was renamed Positions during the Occupation. The latter published them and, in the process, hired him as the weekly's editorial secretary, as well as brochures and small books, such as those in the “Ici la France” and “Fête et saisons” collections, co-published with Éditions du Cerf in July 1942. It was in this position that

Hubert Beuve-Méry Hubert Beuve-Méry (5 January 1902 – 6 August 1989) was a French journalist and newspaper editor who was born in Paris and died in Fontainebleau. Before the Second World War, he was associated with the Vichy regime until December 1942, when ...

spotted him, making him one of his four “musketeers” along with Jacques Fauvet, Pierre Viansson-Ponté and Bernard Lauzanne.

Bibliography

* ''L'Alliance atlantique à l'heure du dégel'', Calmann-Lévy, 1960 * ''Histoire de la Guerre froide'' in two volumes (''De la révolution d'octobre à la guerre de Corée'' and ''De la guerre de Corée à la crise des alliances''), 1965 et 1966, Fayard * ''La Guerre civile froide'', 1969, Fayard * ''Le Dernier Quart du siècle'', 1976, Fayard * ''La France au bois dormant'', 1978, Fayard * ''Histoire de la détente (Un seul lit pour deux rêves),'' 1981, Fayard * ''Sortir de l'hexagonie'', Stock 1984 * ''L'un sans l'autre'', 1991, Fayard * ''Après eux le déluge, de Kaboul à Sarajevo'', 1995, La Martinière * ''La Tache rouge, le roman de la Guerre froide'', 2004, La Martinière ; re-edited with augmented chronology, Le Seuil, « Points »-histoire, 2006

References

French journalists 20th-century French historians Cold War historians 1921 births 2013 deaths French male non-fiction writers {{france-journalist-stub