Jacques Duquesne

Jacques Duquesne (March 18, 1930 – July 5, 2023) was a French journalist and writer.

Biography

Born in Dunkirk in 1930, Jacques Duquesne was marked by the battle fought around the town and port during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (World War II) in May–June 1940, a battle he has written about many times in his books.

He studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and became involved with the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne (JEC). General Secretary of the Association Catholique de la Jeunesse Française in 1954, he was elected President of the Conseil de la Jeunesse de l'Union Française in October 1955, which led him to travel extensively in the former African colonies.

First working for La Croix as a reporter (1957–1964), he landed in Algeria for his first reports just after the famous Battle of Algiers (1956–1957). He published articles denouncing torture during the Algerian War. He then contributed to Panorama chrétien (1964–1970) and L'Express (1967–1971). In 1972, he helped found Le Point magazine, before becoming its editor-in-chief (1974–1977). He then became managing director of the La Vie publications group (1977–1979).

In 1987, he acted as a journalistic guarantor for the Bouygues group when privatized TF1.

He returned to Le Point, where he became chairman and CEO (1985–1990). Finally, in 1997, he became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of L'Express. He chairs the Association pour le soutien des principes de la démocratie humaniste, which oversees the entire Groupe Sipa – Ouest-France group.

He has written several novels and numerous essays, some on religious themes.

From 1991 to 2016, he was president of Bateau Feu, Dunkirk's national stage.

In 2004, in an essay, he opposed a possible dogmatic definition of Mary Coredemptrix, following the position of the Second Vatican Council.

He died on July 5, 2023 at the age of 93 in his Paris apartment. He was buried on July 13 in the Montparnasse cemetery (division 3) in Paris, after a funeral service at the Saint-Séverin church.

Publications

1958 : L'Algérie ou la guerre des mythes 1961 : Sujet ou citoyen 1963 : Les 16–24 ans 1965 : Les Prêtres 1966 : Les Catholiques français sous l'Occupation 1968 : Demain une Église sans prêtres ? 1970 : Dieu pour l'homme d'aujourd'hui 1972 : La Gauche du Christ 1973 : Les 13–16 ans, Montyon Prize in 1974 by Académie Française 1976 : Le Cas Jean-Pierre: l'affaire de Bruay, preface of Me Georges Pinet, supply (economics) 1977 : Le Dieu de Jésus 1977 : La Grande Triche 1979 : Une voix, la nuit 1981 : La Rumeur de la ville 1983 : Maria Vandamme, Prix Interallié 1985 : Saint Éloi 1985 : Alice van Meulen 1986 : Les Catholiques français sous l'occupation 1988 : Au début d'un bel été 1989 : Les vents du nord m'ont dit 1990 : Catherine Courage 1992 : Jean Bart 1994 : Laura C. 1994 : Jésus 1996 : Théo et Marie 1997 : Le Dieu de Jésus 1998 : L'Exposition universelle de 1900 (preface) 1998 : Le Bonheur en 36 vertus 1999 : Dieu expliqué à mes petits enfants 2000 : Les Années Jean Paul II 2000 : Aline (Les héritières tome 1) 2000 : Aurélie (Les héritières tome 2) 2001 : Céline (Les héritières tome 3) 2001 : Pour comprendre la guerre d'Algérie 2002 : Et pourtant nous étions heureux 2004 : Marie, mère de Jésus 2004 : L'Histoire de l'Église : à travers 100 chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture (preface) 2005 : Dieu, malgré tout 2007 : Judas, le deuxième jour 2007 : Yvonne-Aimée n'a pas son âge 2009 : Le Diable, Plon 2012 : Le Mal d'Algérie, Plon 2012 : Carnets secrets de la guerre d'Algérie, Bayard 2014 : Saint François 2016 : Histoires vraies : une vie de journaliste, Albin Michel 2017 : Dunkerque 1940, une tragédie française, Flammarion

Filmography

1989 : Maria Vandamme, (7 d'Or of best author) 1993 : Catherine Courage 1999 : Jésus 2002 : La Rafle du Vel d'Hiv (documentary co-written by Gilles Nadeau)