André Lafargue (2 July 1917 – 18 July 2017) was a French journalist and theatre critic.

Early life

André Lafargue was born on 2 July 1917 in Paris. His father, Jean Lafargue, was the CEO of an electricity and gas company in

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

. His mother, Florence Chamier, was British of Huguenot descent, born in New South Wales. Lafargue attended

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 ...

in 1942. While he was a student, Lafargue began writing ''Résistance'', a pro-

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 ...

newspaper. He was arrested in 1943 and sent to the

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

and the

Ebensee concentration camp Ebensee was a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town of Ebensee, Austria, in 1943. The camp held a total of 27,278 male inmates from 1943 until 1945. Between 8,500 a ...

in 1944. He was released by the United States Army in May 1945.

Career

Lafargue began writing for ''Paris-Matin'', later known as ''Ce matin, le pays'', in 1947. A year later, he joined the ''Parisien libéré'', later known as ''

Le Parisien ''Le Parisien'' (; ) is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of ...

'', in 1948. In the 1970s, he was the founding contributor of the theatre reviews in the newspaper. Even though he retired in 1987, he still published articles for its cultural pages. Lafargue became a knight of the

Order of Arts and Letters The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 1974.

Personal life and death

Lafargue was married twice, and he had two children. His second wife, Monique Morisi, was an actress. He died on 18 July 2017.

References

1917 births 2017 deaths French people of English descent Sciences Po alumni French Resistance members Mauthausen concentration camp survivors French male journalists 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French theatre critics Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Journalists from Paris French men centenarians {{France-journalist-stub