Éric Fottorino

Éric Fottorino (born 26 August 1960, in Nice),[1] is a French journalist and writer. He is the winner of the Prix Femina, 2007, for Baisers de cinéma.[2] After having been a reporter for the daily newspaper Le Monde, then becoming editor-in-chief and executive editor, he was appointed president of the directory group of the La Vie-Le Monde group in January 2008. He was removed from this latter office in December 2010.[3][4]

Éric Fottorino
Éric Fottorino at the Radio France Book Fair, November 26, 2011
Born	26 August 1960 Nice, France
Occupation	Author, Journalist
Language	French
Nationality	French
Notable works	Baisers de cinéma Korsakov
Notable awards	Prix Femina

Biography

His biological father, Maurice Maman, was of Moroccan-Jewish origin[5] and was a gynecology student when he met his mother. The ultra-Catholic family of his mother, Monique Charbrerie, was opposed to their marriage. The young Eric was raised without his father. When he was 9, his mother married Michael Fottorino, a physiotherapist.[6] It's at this time that he took the name of Eric Fottorino. It was only years later that he managed to contact his biological father.

In 1984, after studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of La Rochelle and then at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris,[1] Eric Fottorino started as a freelance reporter for Libération and La Tribune de l'économie.[1]

He joined the daily newspaper Le Monde in 1986,[7] initially as a news desk editor, tracking records of incoming source material, eventually moving on to work with agricultural and African source material.[7] He then became a reporter (1995-1997) before becoming editor-in-chief in 1998,[7] then a chroniqueur (a journalist who writes as a specialist in a particular domain) in 2003.[1]

After preparing a new format of Le Monde, launched in November 2005,[7] he was appointed as the director of publication in March 2006.[1]

In June 2007, after the ousting of Jean-Marie Colombani following the negative vote of the Society of LeMonde Editors (Société des rédacteurs du Monde or SRM), he was elected director of the journal after receiving over 60% of the votes.[8]

On 19 December 2007, he resigned from his position, along with two other board members of the La Vie-Le Monde group, Pierre Jeantet and Bruno Patino, due to financial disagreements with the Society of LeMonde Editors (SRM).[9] In a statement to France Inter, he accuses the SRM of "playing the roles of both arsonist and firefighter" calling into question the group's strategy.[9]

On 4 January 2008, when Pierre Jeantet and Bruno Patino confirmed their resignations, Eric Fottorino decided not to resign after all.[10]

On 5 January 2008, in the newspaper's editorial, he explained that he went back on his decision so as not to add another crisis on top of the current one.[11] He also presented himself as a candidate for the post of president[12] of the directory group of the La Vie-Le Monde group, with the support the Editor's Group (SRM), initially for a term of six years.[13] Newly emboldened, he then decided to apply for a full term of ten years, to prevent Alain Minc, the chairman of the supervisory board, from appointing a provisional president.[14]

After a first provisional refusal of his application on 14 January,[15] he was finally elected president of the directory group on 25 January 2008,[16] succeeding Pierre Jeantet. On 15 December 2010, he was dismissed by the supervisory board of Le Monde.[17]

Other activities

Between 1992 and 1995, Eric Fottorino was a lecturer at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (the Political Studies Institute of Paris).[1]

An experienced amateur cyclist, Eric Fottorino participated in the Grand Prix du Midi Libre in 2001, a mid-mountain cycling event (organized at the time by the La Vie-Le Monde group), an experience he recounts in his books Je pars demain and Petit éloge de la bicyclette.

Eric Fottorino is also known as a novelist and essayist, having received numerous awards for his work, including the Prix Europe and the Prix des Bibliothécaires for Un territoire fragile (2000), the Prix François Mauriac from the French Academy (an annual prize for literature established in 1994) for Caresse de rouge (2004) and the Prix Femina for Baisers de cinéma (2007).[18]

On 14 June 2009, he was interviewed by Catherine Ceylac in the show "Thé ou café" (Tea or coffee) for the television station France 2, whose website states: "to celebrate the release of 100 récits exceptionnels - Le Monde - les grands reportages 1944 – 2009 (100 outstanding accounts – LeMonde - major stories 1944 – 2009) published by Éditions Les Arènes[19] · [20] · [21] and of L'homme qui m'aimait tout bas published by Gallimard. Additional information: the book À chacun son défi published by Éditions Solar.[22]"

Bibliography

• 1988 : Le Festin de la terre, Lieu commun, 1988, ISBN 978-2-86705-100-5
• 1989 : La France en friche
• 1991 : Rochelle
• 1992 : Besoin d'Afrique
• 1993 : L'Homme de terre
• 1994 : Les Éphémères
• 1996 : Aventures industrielles
• 1998 : Cœur d'Afrique (Prix Amerigo Vespucci[1])
• 1999 : Nordeste; Gallimard, 2008, ISBN 978-2-07-034436-9
• 2000 : Un territoire fragile; Gallimard, 2009, ISBN 978-2-07-034437-6 (Prix Europe 1 et le Prix des Bibliothécaires)
• 2001 : Je pars demain
• 2003 : C'est mon tour
• 2004 : Caresse de rouge (Prix François Mauriac from the French Academy)
• 2004 : Korsakov (Prix des libraires and Prix France Télévisions[1])
• 2005 : Le Tiers sauvage
• 2005 : Lire tue, avec Nicolas Vial
• 2007 : Baisers de cinéma Gallimard, 2007, ISBN 978-2-07-078584-1 (Prix Femina[1])
• 2007 : Petit éloge de la bicyclette
• 2009 : L'Homme qui m'aimait tout bas, Gallimard, 2009, ISBN 978-2-07-012463-3
• 2010 : Questions à mon père
• 2010 : Paris Plages : De 1900 à aujourd'hui

Notes and references

1. "Éric Fottorino" (in French). La République des Lettres. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
2. "Tous les lauréats du Prix Femina" (in French). Femina. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
3. "Louis Dreyfus devient président du directoire du groupe Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 16 December 2010.
4. Sandrine Lévêque, Denis Ruellan, Journalistes engagés G Goasdoué - Lectures, 2011 - lectures.revues.org "Notes. 1 Voir par exemple le documentaire, abondamment commenté, diffusé par ARTE en février 2010 : « 8 journalistes en colère » avec Arlette Chabot, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, Éric Fottorino, .."
5. "Le Grand Maman d'Eric Fottorino" (in French). Le Nouvel Observateur. 1 June 2010.
6. L'Homme qui m'aimait tout bas, Éric Fottorino, éditions Gallimard, 2009
7. "Éric Fottorino a été élu président du directoire du Groupe Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 26 January 2010.
8. "Éric Fottorino, nouveau directeur du journal Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 27 June 2007.
9. "Démission du directoire du Monde: Fottorino accuse la Société des rédacteurs" (in French). AFP. 18 December 2007.
10. "Le Monde: 2 démissions sur 3 au Directoire" (in French). From the blog of Jean-Marc Morandini. 5 January 2008.
11. "Editorial du Monde du 6 janvier 2008". Le Monde (in French). 6 January 2008.
12. "Eric Fottorino candidat à la présidence du directoire du Groupe Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 9 January 2008.
13. "Eric Fottorino doit présenter son plan devant les actionnaires le 14 janvier". Le Monde (in French). 12 January 2008.
14. "Eric Fottorino a été élu président du directoire du Groupe Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 27 January 2008.
15. "Les administrateurs partenaires du groupe Le Monde n'ont pas donné leur accord à la candidature d'Eric Fottorino". Le Monde (in French). 14 January 2008.
16. "Un nouveau patron pour Le Monde mais des tensions subsistent". Le Monde (in French). 26 January 2008.
17. "Eric Fottorino révoqué de la présidence du directoire du groupe Le Monde". Le Monde (in French). 15 December 2010.
18. A short biography, in English
19. "Summary of the book" (in French). journaux.fr.
20. "Summary of the book" (in French). boutique.lemonde.fr.
21. "Summary of the book" (in French). lettresvoisines.com.
22. "Thé ou café" (in French). France 2. Retrieved 12 March 2011.