François Debré (3 April 1942 – 14 September 2020) was a French writer and journalist. Winner of the Albert Londres Prize in 1977, he was a member of the Société des gens de lettres.

Biography

The second son of Prime Minister

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...

and his wife, Anne-Marie Lemaresquier, François was also the brother of Vincent, Jean-Louis, and

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

. Additionally, he was the grandson of

Robert Debré Robert Debré (7 December 1882 – 29 April 1978) was a French physician (pediatrician) at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. The largest pediatric hospital in Paris, the Robert-Debré Hospital - located in the North-East part of Paris ...

and the nephew of Olivier Debré. After studying law and eastern languages, he joined the magazine ''

Afrique contemporaine ''Afrique contemporaine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by De Boeck Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Re ...

'' in 1966 before becoming a freelance journalist in 1968. Between 1968 and 1977, he covered numerous conflicts around the world. He worked in

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

for ''

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 ...

'', and in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

for ''

L'Obs (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines a ...

'' and ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

''. In 1968, he won the Prix de la critique indépendante for his essay on the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

. Debré was regarded as one of the most talented reporters of his generation. In the early 1970s, he worked on numerous reports for

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

, Antenne 2, and France Régions 3 in

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He joined TF1's foreign policy service in 1977. He was a major reporter for the channel until 1985. He covered several major events, such as the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, the start of

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

in Poland, and the dismissal of

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996) was a Central African politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR), after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d ...

in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. In 1977, he won the Prix Albert-Londres for his essay on the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

, titled ''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt''. He returned from South-East Asia with an opiate addiction. In 1988, he directed magazines for Antenne 2, where he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief. On 16 December 2011, Debré was given a two-month suspended sentence for his involvement in

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

's scheme to raise money for his presidential run while serving as Mayor of Paris. Debré was married to Maylis Ybarnegaray, daughter of Jean Ybarnégaray, with whom he had two daughters: the novelist

Constance Debré Constance Debré, born in 1972, is a French lawyer and novelist. Biography Constance Debré's parents were journalist François Debré (1942–2020) and former model Maylis Ybarnégaray (1942–1988); the judge and politician Jean-Louis Debré ...

and the journalist at ''

'' Ondine. He died following a long illness in Montlouis-sur-Loire on 14 September 2020 at the age of 78, one day after the death of his brother, Bernard.

Works

Feature films

*''Éthiopie, les dernières années du Negus'' *''Le Petit Livre rouge'' *''Les Chinois de la diaspora'' *''La Remontée du Mekong'' *''Les Trottoirs de Manille'' *''La Quadrature des cercles'' *''Les Narcotiques anonymes''

Screenwriting

*''L'Amiral aux pieds nus'' *''La Ballade de Menardeau'' *''L'Homme de pouvoir'' *''Possession vaut titre''

Publications

*''La Vingt-et-unième Chinoise'' (1968) *''Biafra an II'' (1968) *''Premier crime'' (1975) *''Les Chinois de la diaspora'' (1976) *''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt'' (1977) *''Le Livre des égarés'' (1979) *''Les Fêtes d'automne'' (1983) *''Trente ans avec sursis'' (1998) *''Le Livre des Égarés'' (2019)

Awards

*Prix de la critique indépendante for ''Biafra an II'' (1968) *Prix Albert-Londres for ''Cambodge, la révolution de la forêt'' (1977) *Grand prix du festival international de Monte-Carlo for ''Les Trottoirs de Manille'' (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debre, Francois 1942 births 2020 deaths 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French screenwriters 21st-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French male writers French male journalists French male screenwriters French people of Jewish descent Writers from Toulouse Children of prime ministers of France