''Paris-soir'' () was a French

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

founded in 1923 and published until 1944 when it was banned for having been a collaborationist newspaper during the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Publication history

The first issue of ''Paris-soir'' came out on 4 October 1923, founded by the anarchist Eugène Merle. The paper's early years as a vehicle of radical left ideas proved financially untenable, and it was sold in 1930 to businessman Jean Prouvost, who immediately turned it into a populist evening newspaper, it's politics radically changing to a staunch conservative stance, although distinctly anti-fascist in comparison to other right-wing publications. Prouvost also attempted to bring the French newspaper industry up to date by introducing elements that had long become popular in the United States and Britain, including crossword puzzles, comic strips and features for women. Before the war ''Paris-soir'' boasted a circulation of two and a half million – the largest circulation of any newspaper in Europe at that time. It aimed at a lower audience than the higher-quality papers ''

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'', ...

'' and ''Le Temps''. In 1934 a building was specially built for it, by Fernand Leroy et Jacques Cury, at 37 rue du Louvre, today ''Le Figaros headquarters. A Sunday edition, ''Paris-soir Dimanche'' was published from 22 December 1935 until 16 September 1939. When Paris was occupied by Nazi Germany in June 1940, ''Paris-soir'' was the only newspaper to have its printing press, which was new and considered the best in Europe, handed over to the Germans right away. A version of ''was'' published in Paris under German control from 22 June 1940 to 17 August 1944, with Pierre Mouton as editor-in-chief. Meanwhile, the paper's owner, Jean Prouvost, moved the staff out of Paris and continued the publication of a separate version of ''Paris-soir'' in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

worked as layout editor for this paper from March until December 1940. He was disgusted by the paper's support for the collaborationist Pétain government. Upon hearing of the Allied landing in 1944, the editorial staff secretly returned to Paris. Before the end of fighting in Paris, on 20 August, journalists in the

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 ...

accompanied by

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (FFI; ) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as F ...

occupied ''Paris-soir'' building, armed with requisition orders. The ''Popular'', '' Le Franc-Tireur'', ''

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

'', '' Le Parisien Libéré'', all newspapers close to the resistance, were published using ''Paris-soir'' presses. The building of Paris-soir was occupied by ''Ce Soir'', ''Libération'' and Front national. ''Paris-soir'' management departed, and its leaders were arrested by the FFI. Jean Prouvost went into hiding to avoid arrest. The archives of ''Paris-soir'', held in Paris, were however saved.

References

Sources

* 1923 establishments in France French newspapers confiscated for collaboration Interwar France Newspapers published in Paris Newspapers established in 1923 Daily newspapers published in France {{france-newspaper-stub