Anne Nivat

Anne Nivat (born June 18, 1969, in Poisy) is a French journalist and war correspondent who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She is a resident of Paris and has also lived in Moscow.

Nivat became an expert on politics in Russia. Her first book was about Russian media during the period of glasnost in the former Soviet Union, the dissolution of the country, and its aftermath until 1995 (Anne Nivat, Quand les médias russes ont pris la parole : de la glasnost à la liberté d'expression: 1985-1995, published in 1997). she went to Russia and reported from Chechnya in 1999.

As a journalist, Nivat is most known for her reporting from Chechnya in 1999-2000 where she worked for Ouest France and as a special correspondent for Libération. Nivat traveled to Moscow in September 1999, and when the Russians invaded Chechnya, she applied as a journalist for access but was denied. She gained access to the war zone by traveling there disguised as a Chechen woman and reported independently from Russian control. Nivat was in Chechnya for four months while she intermingled and blended with the local population and reported on the conflict during a ban on journalists until she was picked up by the Russian Federal Security Service and expelled. She says she believes her success in Chechnya was based on several factors:The fact that I am a woman helped me a great deal covering this war. No one pays attention to a woman. Whereas if you are a man, you might be arrested at any time. Also, Dan (Williams, Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post), doesn't speak Russian. The three elements which played in my favor were the fact that I speak Russian, the fact that I am a woman, and the fact that I am a part of the written press – I didn't need microphones. And the fourth element is luck. Since 2004, she has worked for Le Point, a weekly French news magazine, and has also written for Le Soir and Le Nouvel Observateur, as well as the French Huffington Post. Her English-language journalism has appeared in USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Nieman Reports. For The New York Times, she wrote a piece called "Life in the 'red zone'", which is about her experiences as a war correspondent in Iraq and is included in her French-language book about Iraq. She has also written about Afghanistan by comparing the Canadian soldiers who invited her to their camp and the civilians with whom they dealt. Her account was published by The New York Times.

Since August 2024, Nivat has worked with LCI television on weekends.

Publications Quand les médias russes ont pris la parole : de la glasnost à la liberté d'expression, 1985-1995, L'Harmattan, 1997 Chienne de guerre : une femme reporter en Tchétchénie, Fayard, 2000 (prix Albert-Londres), Le Livre de Poche (The Pocket Book), 2001. Algérienne, with Louisette Ighilahriz, Fayard, 2001 La Maison haute, Fayard, 2002, Le Livre de Poche (The Pocket Book), 2003 La guerre qui n'aura pas eu lieu, Fayard, 2004 Lendemains de guerre en Afghanistan et en Irak, 2004 (prix littéraire de l'armée de terre - Erwan Bergot), Le Livre de Poche, 2005 Islamistes, comment ils nous voient, 2006, Le Livre de Poche (The Pocket Book), 2010 Par les monts et les plaines d'Asie Centrale, Fayard, 2006 Bagdad Zone rouge, Fayard, 2008 Correspondante de guerre, (avec Daphné Collignon), published by Reporters sans frontières, Soleil, Paris, 2009, Les Brouillards de la guerre, Fayard, 2011 La République juive de Staline, Fayard 2013 Dans Quelle France On Vit, Fayard 2017 Un continent derrière Poutine ?, Broché 2018

Awards In 2000, Anne Nivat was awarded the prestigious Albert Londres Prize for the printed word for her book Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya. In addition, she received the third prize presented by the SAIS-Novartis International Journalism Award Program for the same reporting assignment.

In 2004, she won the Erwan Bergot literary prize for her book Lendemains de guerre (Translation: Aftermath of War).

Personal data She is married to journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin and they have one son.

Bibliography (English language) Anne Nivat, Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya (English translation), PublicAffairs, 2001. Anne Nivat, The View from the Vysotka : A Portrait of Russia Today Through One of Moscow's Most Famous Addresses, 2004. Anne Nivat, "The Black Widows: Chechen Women Join the Fight for Independence—and Allah," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28, 5 (2005): 413–419. Anne Nivat, The Wake of War: Encounters with the People of Iraq and Afghanistan, Beacon Press, 2006.