Carmen Tessier

Q: When did Carmen Tessier die?

Carmen Tessier died on July 31, 1980.

Q: How old was Carmen Tessier when they died?

Carmen Tessier was 69 years old at the time of death.

Q: When was Carmen Tessier born?

Carmen Tessier was born on June 24, 1911.

Carmen Tessier (24 June 1911 – 31 July 1980) was a French journalist and gossip columnist.

Biography

Carmen Tessier was born in Allaines (Eure-et-Loir). She was secretary to Maurice Bourdet at the Le Poste Parisien in 1937, and then joined Paris-Soir. After the Second World War and the Liberation, she was refused a press card because she worked for that newspaper during German occupation. She recalled: "Thanks to the intervention of Pierre Lazareff [(the director of France-Soir)], I was able to appear again before the committee that decided on the granting of the card. The presiding magistrate asked me loudly: 'So, madam, what did you do during the war?' 'Mr. President, you know it as well as I do: I reported on the cases you tried'. It was all over. As a consequence, I have press card No. 750."

As a journalist at France-Soir, Tessier became a household name. She wrote about rumours surrounding celebrities and stars in column "Les Potins de la commère" ("neighbourhood busybody") that was widely read in France, reputedly by both ministers and concierges. She modelled herself on the American journalist Elsa Maxwell, whom Lazareff had admired when he lived in the United States. Though her writing was ironic and at times caustic, she steered clear of outright scandal. From these revelations she published several books, including the collections of her mémoires, the Bibliothèque Rosse, Histoires de Marie-Chantal and La Commère en dit plus. Olivia de Havilland remarked that her "power and prestige as a lady journalist [were] unequalled in all of Europe"

In 1956, when Romain Gary won the Prix Goncourt for Les Racines du ciel, columnist Tessier suggested that because the writer was from Lithuania, he thus had a poor command of French, so Albert Camus and Jacques Lemarchand [fr] must have written his book for him. Albert Camus then shot off a letter to Charles Gombault, co-director of France-Soir, who said, after reading the missive: "Ok, we will only talk about Camus in this newspaper to announce his death".

Philippe Bouvard succeeded her in writing the gossip column of France-Soir in 1973. She retired in 1975.

Private life

In 1961 she married André-Louis Dubois, prefect of Paris and later the director of Paris Match. This opened doors for Tessier across Paris, and expanded her network of friends and informants. Since Dubois was known as the police chief who had prohibited the honking of car horns for which Paris was notorious, Jean Cocteau quipped "Le Préfet du Silence épouse la Commère" ("the Prefect of Silence marries the Gossip").

Retirement brought the opportunity to write her books, but she missed her accustomed crowded life of invitations and phone calls, and suffered severe depression. She died by suicide in 1980, jumping from the balcony of the 9th floor of a seniors' residence in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris, where she lived with her husband.

Honours

Knight of the Legion of Honour

Carmen Tessier

About Carmen Tessier

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Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge

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1.In what French location was Carmen Tessier born?

2.What was the year of Carmen Tessier's death?

3.Which professional role did Carmen Tessier hold in 1937 at Le Poste Parisien?

4.What was the title of the famous column written by Carmen Tessier for France-Soir?

5.Who intervened to help Carmen Tessier obtain her press card after the war?

6.Which American journalist served as a model for the professional style of Carmen Tessier?

7.In 1956, Carmen Tessier questioned the authorship of which author's Prix Goncourt-winning book?

8.Who succeeded Carmen Tessier as the author of the France-Soir gossip column in 1973?

9.Who was the husband of Carmen Tessier?

10.What public official was referred to by Jean Cocteau as 'Le Préfet du Silence'?

11.What specific act was Carmen Tessier's husband famous for prohibiting in Paris?

12.What was the final occupation of Carmen Tessier's husband, André-Louis Dubois?

13.Which of these books was written by Carmen Tessier?

14.How did Carmen Tessier die?

15.What honour was bestowed upon Carmen Tessier?

16.What was the press card number issued to Carmen Tessier?

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