Florence Aubenas (born 6 February 1961) is a French journalist.

Biography

She was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, 6 February 1961, from French parents and studied journalism at the Centre de Formation des Journalistes in Paris. She worked as a reporter for ''

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 ...

'', ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', among others. She was kidnapped in 2005 while covering the

Iraq war The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and was held captive for five months. She received the prize "Archivio Disarmo - Golden Doves for Peace" awarded by IRIAD (2005). Her books include ''Grand Reporter'' (2009), '' Le Quai de Ouistreham'' (2010) and ''En France'' (2014). ''Le Quai de Ouistreham'', set in the port of

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders t ...

in northern France, won several literary prizes (the Prix Joseph-Kessel, the Globe de Cristal and the Jean Amila-Meckert prize) and has been compared to

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's classic work on the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, ''

The Road to Wigan Pier ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. Its first half documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the ...

''.Review
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References

1961 births Living people 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French women war correspondents Joseph Kessel Prize recipients Journalists from Brussels 20th-century French women journalists 21st-century French women journalists French war correspondents Kidnapped French people {{France-journalist-stub