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André Frossard (; 14 January 1915 – 2 February 1995) was a French
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 ...
and
essayist 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 ...
.


Early life

André Frossard was born on 14 January 1915 in Saint-Maurice-Colombier,
Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Louis-Oscar Frossard, was one of the founders of the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
and served as its first Secretary-General. Later he held a series of ministerial positions in the Government of the Popular Front. Frossard's paternal grandmother was Jewish, and his home village in Foussemagne, France was the only village in France with a synagogue but no church. After attending the
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...
to complete his education, Frossard began a career in journalism as a cartoonist and columnist.


Conversion to Roman Catholicism

Raised as an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, at the age of 20 Frossard converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and was baptized in the chapel of the Sisters of Adoration on 8 July 1935. He explained his conversion in the title of his 1969 bestseller ''Dieu existe, je l'ai rencontré'' (''God Exists, I Met Him'').


French Resistance

Frossard joined the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
in September 1936 and entered into the
French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
upon
demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...
. He was arrested by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
on 10 December 1943. He was interned in the "Jew Shed" of Montluc prison and was one of seven survivors of a massacre in Bron on 2 August 1944, in which 72 were killed. He was awarded the
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
and promoted to the rank of officer by General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
.


After World War II

After the war, Frossard worked at ''L'Aurore'' before joining ''Figaro'' and ''
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 ...
''. He attended many conferences in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and abroad, mainly in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, where the city of
Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
elected him an honorary citizen in 1986. Frossard presented televisions shows like Voyage sans passeport. Frossard was elected to the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
Seat 2 to the chair of the
René de La Croix de Castries René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...
on 18 June 1987, and was received into the institution on 10 March 1988 by Catholic Father Ambroise-Marie Carré. By 1990, Frossard had written about 15,000 newspaper articles and several books, mostly regarding religion. In 1990,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
awarded him the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.


Death

Frossard died in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
on 2 February 1995 and is buried in the cemetery of
Caluire-et-Cuire Caluire-et-Cuire (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the department of Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, eastern France. It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. ...
.


Bibliography


Honours and awards

*Officier de la
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
*Croix de guerre 1939-1945 * Médaille de la Résistance


References


External links


French biographical noticeAndré Frossard Frossard, André (1915-1995)WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frossard, Andre 1915 births 1995 deaths People from Doubs 20th-century French non-fiction writers Members of the Académie Française Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism French Roman Catholics Officers of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Resistance Medal French Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century French male writers French Resistance members Le Figaro people