Alain Maurice Jacques Duhamel (; born 31 May 1940) is a prominent French journalist and political commentator.
In 1963, Duhamel started working at ''
Le Monde
(; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
''. He started giving talks on
Europe 1
Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...
from 1974. He has also written in ''
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 ...
'' since 1992, and in ''
Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace''.
Duhamel has also hosted several television political broadcasts: ''À armes égales'' from 1970, ''Cartes sur table'' on
Antenne 2 from 1978, succeeded by ''L'Heure de vérité'', and eventually ''100 minutes pour convaincre'' from 2002, as well as ''Question Ouverte''. During the
French presidential election of 1995, Duhamel, along with fellow journalist
Guillaume Durand
Guillaume Durand, or William Durand (c. 1230 – 1 November 1296), also known as Durandus, Duranti or Durantis, from the Italian form of Durandi filius, as he sometimes signed himself, was a French canonist and liturgical writer, and Bishop o ...
, hosted the
television debate between
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
and
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.
Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...
.
Duhamel has also worked with
RTL from 1999.
In 2006, Duhamel published ''Les Prétendants 2007'', listing 20 likely contendants of the
French presidential election of 2007, and notably ignoring
Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...
. Duhamel persisted in denying that Royal was a likely contendant, even as she rose in popularity. He eventually included a chapter on the pocket edition of the book.
On November 27, 2006, during a talk at
Sciences Po
Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
, Duhamel stated his intention to vote for
François Bayrou
François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...
. A video of the event was released on
Dailymotion
Dailymotion is a French online video platform, online video sharing platform owned by Canal+ S.A., Canal+. Prior to 2024, the company was owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg, and Hears ...
, and Duhamel was suspended from his activities at
France 2
France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...
and RTL until the end of the campaign.
AFP sur Yahoo!
In 2009, Duhamel released ''La Marche Consulaire'', a book which compared then-President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...
and Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
.
Bibliography
* ''La République giscardienne. Anatomie politique de la France'', Éditions Grasset, 1980.
* ''La République de monsieur Mitterrand'', Éditions Grasset, 1982.
* ''Les prétendants'', Gallimard, 1983.
* ''Le complexe d'Astérix. Essai sur le caractère politique des Français'', Gallimard, 1985.
* ''Le Ve Président'', Gallimard, 1987.
* ''Les habits neufs de la politique'', Flammarion, 1989.
* ''De Gaulle-Mitterrand. La marque et la trace'', Flammarion, 1991.
* ''Les peurs françaises'', Flammarion, 1993.
* ''La Politique imaginaire. Les mythes politiques français'', Flammarion, 1995 (''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 ...
'' essay prize).
* ''Portrait d'un artiste'', Flammarion, 1997.
* ''Une ambition française'', Plon, 1999.
* ''Derrière le miroir. Les hommes politiques à la télévision'', Plon, 2000.
* ''Les Prétendants 2007'', Plon, 2006
* ''La Marche Consulaire'', 2009
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duhamel, Alain
1940 births
Living people
20th-century French journalists
21st-century French journalists
French television journalists
French columnists
French radio presenters
Sciences Po alumni
Mass media people from Caen
Writers from Caen
French male non-fiction writers
Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour