was a French newspaper published between 1941 and 1964. Beginning as the clandestine newspaper of the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

Libération-sud ''Libération-sud'' ( French for "Liberation-South") was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage a ...

, the newspaper continued after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Its editor belonged to the

fellow traveller A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...

movement 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 ...

. In 1973, the title was of the newspaper was reused by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Serge July Serge July (; born 27 December 1942) is a French journalist, editor, founder of the daily ''Libération'', and a prominent figure in French politics from the 1970s through the 1990s. He is the author of several books and has directed more than fif ...

for their newspaper ''

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 ...

''.

Secret beginnings

In July 1941,

Jean Cavaillès Jean Cavaillès (; ; 15 May 1903 – 4 April 1944) was a French philosopher and logician who specialized in philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. He took part in the French Resistance within the '' Libération'' movement and was a ...

and

Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (6 January 190012 June 1969) was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance. Biography Born in Paris, he attended the Naval Academy but resigned from the French Navy in 1923. He became a ...

launched ''Libération,'' the clandestine newspaper for the

Libération-Sud ''Libération-sud'' ( French for "Liberation-South") was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage a ...

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 ...

. The editorial venture started with printing 10,000 copies for the first issue, cosigned by André Lassagne,

Raymond Aubrac Raymond Aubrac (born Samuel, 31 July 1914 – 10 April 2012) was a member of the French Resistance in World War II. A civil engineer by trade, he assisted General Charles Delestraint within the ''Armée secrète''. Aubrac and his wife Lucie Aubr ...

and

. Eventually reaching 200,000 copies printed per issue, it became one of the most important and most distributed Resistance newspapers, along with ''Combat''. During the first six months of its existence, the writing was managed by John Rochon, who worked as an editor for '' La Montagne'' a daily in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

. From 1942 to April 1944, when he was arrested, the editor in chief was journalist Louis Martin-Chauffier. Just like the liberation movement itself, the writing came from a mix of men with diverse political views and backgrounds: socialists, communists, CGT syndicates and militant Christians. Amongst the first contributors were writers such as Anna Bellini, Lionel Brahic, David Wettel ou Pierre Savornin. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberation (newspaper, 1941-1964) 1941 establishments in France 1964 disestablishments in France Newspapers established in 1941 Publications disestablished in 1964 French resistance publications Defunct newspapers published in France