Léon Zitrone (25 November 1914 – 25 November 1995) was a Russian-born French journalist and television presenter.

Biography

Zitrone was born in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Russia. He arrived in France with his family fleeing communism at the age of six. He graduated from the ESJ Paris. He began by training in scientific studies but his mastership of Russian, French, English and German gave him entrance in 1948 to the radio foreign broadcasting services of

Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (; RTF; "French Radio and Television Broadcasting") was the French national public broadcaster television organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "''Radiodiffusion Française''" ...

(RTF). In 1959, he joined the television activity of RTF. From 1961, he became news presenter, function he occupied for nearly 20 years, first until 1975, on the first French television channel (now

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 ...

), then also on Antenne 2, the other public service channel. Jean-Pierre Elkabbach called him back in 1979. He then took charge of the news program during the week-end (his contract was established until 1 February 1981). He would come back for those news programs also during the Easter and Pentecost week-ends. But Léon Zitrone's celebrity is due to the programs he presented or co-presented. He was host of the televised program '' Intervilles'' (French counterpart of Britain's ''

It's a Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...

'') with

Guy Lux Guy Maurice Lux (21 June 1919 – 13 June 2003) was a French Television presenter, TV host and Television producer, producer best known for his 1961 creation of the game show ''Intervilles'' and its numerous spinoffs. During his 40 year career, ...

. He commented 6 times on the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, and he is remembered for his prodigious memory for names of riders. He presented the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

8 times, commented the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

on 4 occasions and presented 16

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

military parades. Above all, he was the key-commenter for big events, such as weddings, burials or investitures of world's key figures, some thirty of them during the course of his career. In 1978, following French singer

Marie Myriam Marie Myriam (born Myriam Lopes, 8 May 1957, Luluabourg, Belgian Congo, (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a French singer. Career Representing France, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 with '' L'oiseau et l'enfant'' ("The ...

's victory the previous year, the Eurovision song contest took place in Paris. Léon Zitrone co-presented with

Denise Fabre Denise Fabre (born 5 September 1942) is a French former television personality, best known for her role as an in-vision continuity announcer. She is now municipal advisor to the presiding mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. Biography Fabre, born i ...

and made the presentation in English.Histoire de l'ESJ Paris
He was the oldest host of the Eurovision Song Contest, aged 63. In 1984, Zitrone took a leading role in the movie '' American Dreamer''.

Death

He died from a cerebral hemorrhage on his 81st birthday, 25 November 1995, at the

Val-de-Grâce The Val-de-Grâce (; Hôpital d'instruction des armées du Val-de-Grâce or HIA Val-de-Grâce) was a military hospital located at 74 boulevard de Port-Royal in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History ...

hospital in Paris.

Biography

Death

Filmography

References

See also