Daniel Rondeau (born 7 May 1948) is a French writer, editor, and diplomat. Born in

Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (, literally ''Le Mesnil on Oger'') is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region in north-eastern France. Champagne The village's vineyards are located in the Côte des Blancs subregion of Champagne, and a ...

, he studied law at Panthéon-Assas where the spirit of

May 68 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and Occupation of factories, factories. At t ...

saw him embrace

Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

and join the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

by working from 1970 to 1974 in a factory in Nancy making insulation. He worked for

France Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, l ...

's Nord-Est radio station from 1977, before moving to Paris, where he worked for the newspapers ''

Libération ''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. Initially positioned on the far-left of France ...

'' (1982–1985) ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécile ...

'' (1985–1998) and ''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'' (1998–2007). He was French ambassador to Malta (2008–2011) and to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

(2011–2013). He has written fiction, reportage, literary criticism and political commentary, and for his oeuvre won the

Grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand The Grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand is a French literary award, established by the Académie française in 1977 and handed out in 1980 for the first time. The prize goes to an author for their entire body of work. It is named after the writer ...

in 1998. After unsuccessfully standing for election to the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 2011 and 2016, he was elected to seat 8 in 2019.

Works

Honours

;French: * Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* Commander of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system ...

* Chevalier of the

Ordre du Mérite Maritime The ''Ordre du Mérite Maritime'' ( French for "Order of Maritime Merit") is a French order established on 9 February 1930 for services rendered by seafarers to recognise the risks involved and the services rendered by seamen, and reflect the imp ...

;Foreign (honorary) * Officer of the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...

(Malta) * Commander of the

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(Lebanon)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rondeau, Daniel Living people 1948 births French editors 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French male writers 21st-century French essayists 21st-century French journalists 21st-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French novelists Boxing writers French travel writers Ambassadors of France to Malta Permanent Delegates of France to UNESCO Members of the Académie Française Knights of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Malta) People from Marne (department) Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni French Maoists Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners