Jean-Claude Lamy (3 August 1941 – 2 February 2025) was a French journalist, writer and publisher.

Biography

Early life and education

Jean-Claude Lamy was born in

Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme Departments of France, department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhô ...

, France on 3 August 1941. He studied journalism at the ''Centre de Formation des Journalistes'' (CFJ), where he trained before entering the profession in the 1960s.

Journalistic career

As a journalist, Jean-Claude Lamy joined ''

France-Soir ''France Soir'' () was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a populist tabloid in 2006 ...

'' in the 60s where he stayed over thirty years. There he met

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 ...

and wrote the first biography of the famous newspaper's director. In addition, he was also a chronicler at ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', through which he met the great writers of his time (

Hervé Bazin Hervé Bazin (; 17 April 191117 February 1996) was a French writer, whose best-known novels covered semi-autobiographical topics of teenage rebellion and dysfunctional families. Biography Bazin, born Jean-Pierre Hervé-Bazin in Angers, Maine ...

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

, Albert Cohen,

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, ; ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 190317 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the Prix Femina and ...

François Nourissier François Nourissier (; Paris, 18 May 1927–Paris, 15 February 2011) was a French journalist and writer. Nourissier was the secretary-general of Éditions Denoël (1952–1955), editor of the review ''La Parisienne'' (1955–1958), and an advis ...

, etc.) of whom he realized the portraits through interviews. Since 2001, Jean-Claude Lamy was a columnist at the ''

Midi Libre ''Midi Libre'' () is a French daily newspaper in Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpelli ...

''. In the 1970s, Jean-Claude Lamy became a close friend of

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (; born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois ch ...

. The novelist confided her memories, and he wrote, with her agreement and complicity, an important biography, ''Françoise Sagan, une légende'' (Mercure de France). Passionate about publishing, and , in particular the adventures of

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

and Rouletabille, he created the "Cercle Gaston Leroux" with the daughter of the author of the ''Mystère de la chambre jaune''. Among the first members were

Jacques Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

and

Pierre Prévert Pierre Prévert (26 May 1906 – 5 April 1988) was a French film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is the brother of Jacques Prévert, who is the subject of his documentary ''Mon frère Jacques''. He is the father of screenwriter Catherine ...

, who later inspired his new book, which was crowned by the Goncourt of biography in 2008. In 2011, he was one of the members of the jury of the

Prix Françoise Sagan The prix Françoise Sagan is a French literary award established in 2010 by , the son of Françoise Sagan. The Prize Awarded at the beginning of June, the Prix Françoise Sagan rewards "an author never yet rewarded, not even selected in recent ...

Death

Lamy died on 2 February 2025, at the age of 83.Lamy Jean Claude

Works (selection)

*1972: ''Au petit bonheur la Chambre'', with Marc Kunstlé, cartoons by

Cabu Jean Maurice Jules Cabut (; 13 January 19387 January 2015), known by the pen-name Cabu (), was a French comic strip artist and caricaturist. He was murdered in the January 2015 shooting attack on the ''Charlie Hebdo'' newspaper offices. Cabu w ...

éditions Julliard Éditions Julliard is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1942 by René Julliard. Julliard was known as a discoverer and publisher of talents, in particular Françoise Sagan and Jean d'Ormesson. After Julliard's death in July 1962, the ...

*2000: ''La Belle Inconnue'', Éditions du Rocher, prix François-Billetdoux *2001: ''La Guerre, mademoiselle'', Éditions du Rocher, prix de la ville d'Étretat *2002: ''Mac Orlan : l'aventurier immobile'',

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

, *2003: ''Gaston Leroux ou le vrai Rouletabille. Une biographie suivie de Six histoires épouvantables'', Éditions du Rocher - *2004: ''Brassens, le mécréant de Dieu'', Albin Michel, *2006: ''La Comédie des livres'', Albin Michel, *2008: ''Bernard Buffet, le samouraï'', Albin Michel, *2008: ''Prévert, les frères amis'', Albin Michel, *2011: ''Et Dieu créa les femmes : Brigitte, Françoise, Annabel et les autres'', Albin Michel, *2012: ''Éloge du non'', Monaco-Paris, France, Le Rocher, *2013: ''Le Mystère de la chambre Jeanne Calment'', Fayard, *2013: ''Le Miroir de la Grande Guerre'', Éditions Anne Carrière, *2014: Éditeur et préfacier des mémoires posthumes de Robert Sabatier, ''Je vous quitte en vous embrassant bien fort'', Albin Michel, *2015: ''Chez Brassens. Légende d'un poète éternel'', Monaco-Paris, France, Le Rocher,

References

External links

*
Jean Claude Lamy
on Apostrophes (video)

on

France Culture France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...

''Et Dieu créa les femmes de Jean-Claude Lamy''
on ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Jean-Claude 1941 births 2025 deaths Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) People from Valence, Drôme 20th-century French writers 21st-century French writers 20th-century French journalists French publishers (people) French biographers Prix Goncourt de la Biographie winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Le Figaro people