Lucas Dolega (19 August 1978 – 17 January 2011), born Loucas von Zabiensky-Mebrouk and also called Lucas Mebrouk Dolega, was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

. He was reportedly killed by Tunisian police while he was photographing a protest in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. As reported in The Guardian (UK), Dolega was the first journalist killed during the 2010-2011 Tunisian protests, according to

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

. He was also the first journalist to die while on assignment during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

uprisings. He was fatally injured on the same day that

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: , ; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tun ...

fled Tunisia for exile.

Personal information

Dolega was born in Paris on 19 August 1978 to a German mother and a French father, a journalist and a doctor respectively. He grew up in Paris, before moving to Tangier in Morocco. He had French and German citizenship, and started work as a photographer for

European Pressphoto Agency European Pressphoto Agency B.V. (EPA Images) is an international news and photo agency. Images from all parts of the world covering news, politics, sports, business, finance as well as arts, culture and entertainment are provided by a global n ...

in April 2006.Olivier Laurent,
UNESCO, French government call for investigation of Lucas Dolega's death [update 7
/nowiki>">pdate 7">UNESCO, French government call for investigation of Lucas Dolega's death [update 7
/nowiki>", ''British Journal of Photography,'' 16 January 2011. Accessed 22 January 2011. He was based in Paris, covered a variety of stories in Europe, and in 2008 photographed the Congo. Dolega was 32 years old when he died.

Death

On 14 January 2011, the day after Dolega arrived in Tunis, and at the end of a demonstration on Avenue Bourguiba, he was within a group of journalists at the corner of rue Gandhi and rue de Marseille. He was hit in the head by a tear gas canister, about 20 cm long and 5 cm diameter, reportedly fired by police at short range and horizontally toward a group of photographers. He was taken first to a clinic and then to Tunis Rabta Neurologic Hospital where he was operated on but died on 17 January.David Walker,
Photographer dies of injuries in Tunis
, ''Photo District News,'' 18 January 2011. Accessed 22 January 2011. Fellow photographer and friend Olivier Laban-Mattei brought Dolega's corpse back to France.

Impact

Dolega was the first of a number of journalists who were killed over the course of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011. He was killed while on assignment. He is among a group of photojournalists who were killed while covering protests, such as Hiro Muramoto, cameraman and journalist shot by a soldier in Bangkok, 2010; or Kenji Nagai, a photojournalist who was shot by a soldier in Rangoon, 2007.

Legacy

The Lucas Dolega Award (Prix Lucas Dolega) was established in 2011 to honor photojournalists who have reported under difficult circumstances.

In popular culture

Lucas Dolega is mentioned in the poem "A Love Letter from Emilie Blachère to Rémi Ochlik", written by

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

journalist Emilie Blachère on the occasion of the first anniversary of Rémi Ochlik's death. She writes: "My angel, give Lucas a kiss for me. Take care of yourself. Take care of us." After she read the poem on BBC Radio 4's

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

news program, radio host

Paddy O'Connell Guy Patrick "Paddy" O'Connell (born 11 March 1966, in Guildford, Surrey) is an English television and radio presenter. He presents BBC Radio 4's '' Broadcasting House'' programme and '' Newsnight''. He is also an occasional presenter of the '' ...

broke down emotionally and could not bring himself to continue the news broadcast for around 12 seconds. Rémi Ochlik was a friend and colleague of Lucas Dolega, he was with Dolega when Dolega died, and he worked on establishing an award in Dolega's honor after his friend's death.

Notes

External links

* Lucas Dolega: Photoreporte
websitePhotographs by Lucas Dolega
European Pressphoto Agency *Michel Puech,
Tunis: le photographe Lucas Dolega de l'agence EPA est décédé
. Mediapart, January 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolega, Lucas 1978 births 2011 deaths 2011 in Tunisia French people murdered abroad French people of German descent French photojournalists German people of French descent German photojournalists Assassinated French journalists War photographers killed while covering military conflicts Journalists killed while covering the Tunisian revolution People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Tunisia Protest-related deaths Writers from Paris Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French photographers 21st-century French photographers Photographers from Paris People assassinated in the 21st century