André Frossard

André Frossard
Born (1915-01-14)14 January 1915
Saint-Maurice-Colombier
Died 2 February 1995(1995-02-02) (aged 80)
Versailles, France
Occupation Essayist, student

André Frossard (1915–1995) was a French journalist and essayist.[1]

Early life

André Frossard was born on January 14, 1915, in Saint-Maurice-Colombier, Doubs, France. His father, Louis-Oscar Frossardan, was one of the founders of the French Communist Party and served as its first Secretary-General. Later he held a series of ministerial positions in the Government of the Popular Front. His paternal grandmother was Jewish, and his home village in Foussemagne, France was the only village in France where there was a synagogue but no church.[2] After attending the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs to complete his education, Frossard began a career in journalism as a cartoonist and columnist.

Conversion to Roman Catholicism

Raised as an atheist, at the age of 20 Frossard converted to Catholicism and was baptized in the chapel of the Sisters of Adoration on July 8, 1935. He explained his conversion in the title of his 1969 bestseller Dieu existe, je l’ai rencontré (God Exists, I Met Him).

French Resistance

Frossard joined the French Navy in September 1936 and entered into the French Resistance upon demobilization. He was arrested by the Gestapo in Lyon on December 10, 1943, was interned in the "Jew Booths" of Fort Montluc, and was one of the seven survivors of a massacre in Bron on August 2, 1944, in which 72 were killed. He was awarded the Legion of Honor as a military title and promoted to the rank of officer by General Charles de Gaulle.

After World War II

After the war, Frossard worked at L'Aurore before joining Figaro and Le Monde. He attended many conferences in France and abroad, mainly in Italy, where the city of Ravenna elected him an honorary citizen in 1986.

Frossard was elected to the Académie française Seat 2 to the chair of the René de La Croix de Castries, on June 18, 1987, and was received into the institution on March 10, 1988 by Catholic Father Ambroise-Marie Carré.[3]

By 1990, Frossard had written about 15,000 newspaper articles and several books, mostly regarding religion. In 1990, Pope John Paul II awarded him the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Death

Frossard died in Versailles on February 2, 1995, and is buried in the cemetery of Caluire-et-Cuire.

Bibliography

Honours and awards

References

  1. ↑ Virtual International Authority File
  2. ↑ "A Town in Alsace Exclusively Jewish". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1923-11-18. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ "andre-frossard". Academie Française. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  4. ↑ André Frossard (18 November 1993). Défense du Pape. Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-67437-7.
  5. ↑ André Frossard; Noël Bompois (1 January 1995). L'Évangile inachevé. J.-C. Lattès. ISBN 978-2-7096-1584-6.

External links

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