''L'Aurore'' was a French newspaper first sold on 11 September 1944, soon after the Liberation of Paris. Its name refers to the previous, unrelated publication, ''

L'Aurore ; ) was a literary, liberal, and socialist newspaper published in Paris, France, from 1897 to 1914. Its most famous headline was Émile Zola's ''J'accuse...!'' leading into his article on the Dreyfus Affair. The newspaper was published by Geo ...

'' (1897–1914). Publication ended in 1985. During 1943, several issues of ''L'Aurore'' were published in secret by Robert Lazurick (a former member of the Front Populaire). After the Liberation of Paris, in 1944, Lazurick, Jean Piot, and Paul Bastid obtained official authority to publish their paper under the title ''L'Aurore'' (the dawn), in reference to Clemenceau, and also to '' J'accuse…!'' by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

, published in the previous ''L'Aurore'' in 1898. ''L'Aurore'' hit newsstands on September 11, 1944. The paper's offices were located in Paris, at 9 rue Louis-le-Grand, which were previously occupied by the news daily '' L'Oeuvre'', which had been denied authority to resume publication. In 1954, ''L'Aurore'' moved to 100 rue de Richelieu in the 2nd arrondissement, in the former offices of the historic '' Le Journal''. Circulation exceeded 90,000 by January 1945. Within short time, the daily had become among the four most significant news publications in the after-war period. By 1953, the company had purchased several other publications, including '' L'Epoque'', '' France Libre'', and '' Ce Matin-Le Pays''.

Boussac period

In 1951, Marcel Boussac, a powerful textile industrialist in the capital, owned a 74.3% controlling stake in the paper. Under his guidance, the paper's political slant leaned towards the causes of the middle, working, and artisan classes, and during the Algerian Independence Movement, the paper preferred the rights of the

Pieds-Noirs The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

. In the 1960s, in a Gaullist political climate, the paper served as a voice of opposition for

centrism Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

, taking up causes like the plight of

Jean Lecanuet Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a French Centrism, centrist politician. Biography Lecanuet was born to a family of modest means in Rouen and gravitated towards philosophy studies. He received his diplo ...

. After the accidental death of Robert Lazurick in April 1968, his widow Francine Lazurick (née Bonitzer), succeeded him in his role at the paper. She worked integrally with the chief editors, including Roland Faure ( foreign politics), Gilbert Guilleminault (society, culture, general news), Dominique Pado ( domestic politics), Andre Guerin ( editorial), Jose Van den Esch (economy, society), and Georges Merchier (science, education, religion). Roger Alexandre was the last managing director of ''L'Aurore''.

From Jules Romains to Pierre Desproges

In July 1956, ''L'Aurore'' was the premier daily featuring color illustrations on the front and back pages. Circulation, which in 1952 had numbered 400,000, increased to more than 500,000 daily subscriptions between 1956 and 1962, which in some years in the period surpassed ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' in total daily circulation.Claude Bellanger, Jacques Godechot, Perre Guiral and Fernand Terrou, opcit, p.267. Renowned among news teams of the era, André Frossard,

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cyc ...

, and Jean Mistler, were all members of 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 ...

. Pierre Desproges collaborated with his childhood friend, the judicial journalist and author Annette Kahn. Other journalists who collaborated on ''L'Aurore'': Phillipe Bernet, Gilbert Ganne, Gérald Schurr,

Anne Manson Anne Manson (born 1961, Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American conducting, conductor. Biography Manson studied viola and piano in her youth. She attended Harvard University from 1979 to 1983, with an initial intention to focus on a pre-medical c ...

, Évelyne Le Garrec, Jean-Claude Goudeau,

Jean Laborde Jean Laborde (16 October 1805 in Auch – 27 December 1878 in Mantasoa, Madagascar) was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar. He became the chief engineer of the Merina people, Merina Kingdom of Imerina, monarchy, supervising the cr ...

, André Sirvin, Alain Riou, Jacques Bouzerand, Bernard Morrot, Francis Schull, Jacques Lesinge, Jacques Malherbes, Jacques Chambaz, André Bloch, Andrée Nordon, Jacques-Marie Bourget, Jean-Michel Saint-Ouen.

Hersant period

In 1978, after Boussac sold the paper to Marcel Fournier (president of supermarket chain

Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...

), the paper was sold again to Robert Hersant. Francine Lazurick vacated her position as managing director in response, as did the editor at the time, Dominique Pado. Pierre Janrot, a member of the Groupe Hersant publishing conglomerate, replaced Lazurick as managing director of ''L'Aurore'' on November 3 that year. Robert Hersant gradually pulled support for the paper, which had previously been a direct competitor to

, another Hersant publication. In doing so, he incrementally merged ''L'Aurore'' with other publications in the conglomerate. As a result, within several years, ''L'Aurore'' had lost its identity as an independent content publication, with the exception of the editorial page, which until 1982 was written by Jacques Guilleme-Brulon (foreign politics) or, more frequently, by Guy Baret (domestic politics). Under their influence, ''L'Aurore'' leaned politically rightward in its last days as an independent paper. In 1985, ''L'Aurore'' was integrated fully into ''

'', though it survived in title, in the Saturday supplement, '' Le Figaro-L'Aurore''.

Footnotes

External links

* Underground issues o
''L'Aurore''
in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurore 1944 establishments in France 1985 disestablishments in France Newspapers established in 1944 Publications disestablished in 1985 Defunct newspapers published in France Newspapers published in Paris Daily newspapers published in France