Raymond Bourgine

Raymond Bourgine
Senator for Paris
In office
25 September 1977 – 29 November 1990
Prime Minister
Personal details
Born9 March 1925
Diégo-Suarez, Madagascar, France
Died29 November 1990(1990-11-29) (aged 65)
Paris, France
Resting placePassy Cemetery, Passy, Paris
Political party
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • Politician

Raymond Bourgine (9 March 1925 – 29 November 1990) was a French journalist and politician.[1] He served as editor-in-chief of Valeurs Actuelles from 1966 to 1990 and as French Senator from 1977 to 1990.[1][2]

Early life

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Raymond Bourgine was born on March 9, 1925, in Diégo-Suarez, Madagascar.[1] He grew up in the Réunion and Madagascar, and joined the French Army in Africa during the Second World War.[1]

Journalism

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In 1945, Bourgine started writing for Paris-Matin, followed by La Vie française in 1946 and Aux Écoutes de la Finance in 1947, before becoming its editor-in-chief in 1948.[1][3] In 1957, he bought Aux Écoutes de la Finance, then known as Finance, from Paul Lévy [fr]'.[1] In 1962, he launched the luxury magazine Le Spectacle du Monde.[1] In 1966, he founded the publisher Valmonde.[1] The same year, he renamed Finance Valeurs actuelles.[1][4] In 1967, he founded Le Nouveau Journal, and led the Financial and Economics Agency from 1967 to 1970.[1] He served as editor-in-chief of Valeurs actuelles until his death, when his protege François d'Orcival took over.[2][5][6][7]

Politics

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A proponent of French Algeria, Bourgine supported Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour in 1965.[1] He supported Georges Pompidou for president in 1969.[1] Close to Antoine Pinay, he joined the Centre national des indépendants et paysans (CNIP) in 1971.[1] From 1977 to 1983, he served as member of the Council of Paris for the Rassemblement pour la République and advisor to the Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac.[1] He was elected to the French Senate in 1977, and again in 1986 under the leadership of Maurice Couve de Murville.[1] In 1987, he joined the senatorial organization for France-South African relations.[1] He was also a fierce champion of capitalism and free enterprise and, like his avatar Alexis de Tocqueville, he supported the freedom of the press.[1] He rejected the 1981 nationalisation legislations, and in 1985 he rejected government funding of the press.[1] He sat on the Board of Trustees of the Centre Georges-Pompidou.[1]

Death

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Grave.

Bourgine died on November 29, 1990, in Paris.[1] He is buried in Passy Cemetery.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Senate biography
  2. ^ a b Michel Gurfinkiel, Raymond Bourgine dans le texte, Valeurs actuelles, 02/12/2010
  3. ^ Giles Scott-Smith, Networks of Empire: The US State Department's Foreign Leader Program in the Netherlands, France and Britain 1950-1970, European Interuniversity Press, 2008, p. 446
  4. ^ Xavier Ternisien, Une filière "Valeurs actuelles" à la tête du "Figaro", Le Monde, 19/07/2012
  5. ^ Pascal Dillane, Un ancien dirigeant de l’extrême droite représente la presse française, ACRIMED, February 2005
  6. ^ J.G. Shields, The Extreme Right in France: From Petain to Le Pen, Routledge, 2006, p. 153 [1]
  7. ^ Valérie Auda-André, David Bensoussan, Nigel Copsey, Olivier Dard, Richard Griffiths, Bertrand Joly, Magali Della Sudda, Jean Vavasseur-Desperriers, Philippe Vervaecke, A droite de la droite : Droites radicales en France et en Grande-Bretagne au XXe siècle, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2012, p. 540 [2]