Yves Courrière, real name Gérard Bon (12 October 1935 – 8 May 2012) was a French writer, biographer and journalist.

Biography

As a child Courrière read

Albert Londres Albert Londres (1 November 1884 – 16 May 1932) was a French journalist and writer. One of the inventors of investigative journalism, Londres not only reported news but created it, and reported it from a personal perspective. He criticized ab ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and became passionate about adventure stories. As a journalist, in 1957 he joined the editorial staff of Radio-Luxembourg and participated in

Armand Jammot Armand Jammot (4 April 1922 – 19 April 1998) was a French television producer. He produced a number of shows, most notably ''Les Dossiers de l'Écran'', and in 1965, he created '' Des chiffres et des lettres''. In 1982, Yorkshire Televis ...

's ''10 Millions d'auditeurs'', first radio magazine of the post-war period. He was then sent to report in 1958 to follow the voyages of

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

to Africa, and went to countries affected by armed conflicts, civil wars or revolutions, notably in India, the Middle East, and Algeria. He covered the Algerian war and obtained the Albert Londres Prize in 1966 for his articles on Latin America. From these events, Courrière derived a monumental work that is still being referred to, a landmark in its proximity to the end of the conflict as well as the quality of the sources he obtained. On its release, ''La Guerre d'Algérie'' was rewarded by the and was published to more than one million copies. Courrière covered the

Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

'' in 1962, imposing himself as one of the great signatures of journalism. In 1967, he led the first edition of ' on the second channel of the ORTF, a program that will host other presenters during its 24 years of broadcasting. He decided from 1968 to stop his activity as reporter to dedicate himself to a career of writer. In particular, he published novels and biographies of emblematic personalities from the first half of the twentieth century such as

Joseph Kessel Joseph Kessel (10 February 1898 – 23 July 1979), also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Biography Kessel was born to a Jewish family in ...

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

Roger Vailland Roger Vailland (16 October 1907 – 12 May 1965) was a French novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. Biography Vailland was born in Acy-en-Multien, Oise. His novels include the prize winning ''Drôle de jeu'' (1945), ''Les mauvais coups'' (1948) ...

Pierre Lazareff Pierre Lazareff (1907–1972) was a French newspaper editor and publisher. He was the son of a Russian Jewish emigrant, David Lazareff, and an Alsatian Jew, Marthe Helft. He was passionate about newspapers from his childhood, even running a fam ...

. In September 1971, he created the weekly magazine ' of which he took the direction, the magazine was published by , the last issue was published in January 1974. In 1972, along director , he realized the first documentary devoted to the war in Algeria. This film is considered the reference on this conflict.

Meeting with Roger Vailland

Courrière met

the day on which the latter received the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

for his novel '' The Law'' in December 1957.Article by Yves Courrière published in the magazine ''Le Croquant'' December 1987 intitled ''Rencontres avec Roger Vailland'' Roger Vailland was still under the spell of the break with "his communist season" where he felt "like dead" he wrote in his ''Écrits intimes''. To get him out of the depression into which he was falling, his wife Elisabeth took him to his country, Italy, in the Apulia, that hard region, with the crystallized relations he describes so well in his novel. They saw themselves episodically, too caught up in their activities as great reporters. In the spring of 1961, they met in Jerusalem to cover the

Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
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whom he had known before the war at '' Paris-Soir'' and who became for Courrière an exemplary man of which he will write a very documented biography like that which he devoted to Roger Vailland in 1991.

Works

* ''La Guerre d'Algérie'' (4 volumes published by

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

and reissued in two volumes in 2001: ''La guerre d'Algérie 1957–1962'', and ''La guerre d'Algérie 1954-1957'') **1968: ''Les Fils de la Toussaint'' **1969: ''Le Temps des léopards'' **1970: ''L'Heure des colonels'' **1971: ''Les Feux du désespoir'' *1971–1974 ''Historia Magazine - La Guerre d'Algérie '', Éditions Tallandier, (112 issues) *1974: ', Fayard *1974: ''L'Homme qui court'', Fayard *1979: ''Normandie Niemen'', Presses de la Cité, *1985: ''Joseph Kessel ou Sur la piste du lion'', Plon *1987: ''Les Excès de la passion'', Plon *1987: ''Le Démon de l'aventure'', Plon *1991: ', Plon *1995: ''Pierre Lazareff ou le vagabond de l'actualité'',

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

, *1999: ''Les Aubarèdes'', roman, Presses de la Cité, *2000: ''Jacques Prévert. En vérité'', Gallimard, *2003: ''Éclats de vie'', mémoires, éditions Fayard,

References

External links

Yves Courrière
on Banelio
Yves Courrière : guerre d'Algérie
on INA.fr (22 September 1971)
''Décès du journaliste Yves Courrière, spécialiste de la guerre d'Algérie''
on '' Le Parisien'' (9 May 2012)
''le décès d'Yves Courrière, journaliste-historien de la guerre d'Algérie dans les années 1960-1970''
on ''Études coloniales'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Courriere, Yves 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French writers 21st-century French writers French biographers People of the Algerian War Joseph Kessel Prize recipients Albert Londres Prize recipients Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) 1935 births Writers from Paris 2012 deaths