Éric Zemmour
Encyclopedia
Éric Zemmour is a French
conservative political journalist and writer. He has been a columnist for the daily newsparer Le Figaro
and a panelist on France 2
talk-show On n'est pas couché and on I-Télé current affairs show Ça se dispute. He has received fame as well as controversy for his very conservative views about national sovereignty
and patriarchy
and for his criticism towards immigration
, European integration
and egalitarian
activism.
, Seine-Saint-Denis
, France
to Roger and Lucette Zemmour, Jews
who left their native Algeria
during the country's struggle for independence. Zemmour attended École Yabn, a well-regarded Jewish high school in Paris, which reportedly left a lasting impact on his self-image.
After graduating from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
, Zemmour made two unsuccessful attempts to gain admission to the École nationale d'administration
. He took a job instead with Le Quotidien de Paris
, under the leadership of its founder Philippe Tesson. His next position was as editorialist at Info-Matin, a newly-founded French daily. He was also a contributor to Globe Hebdo, a weekly news-magazine, before eventually joining Le Figaro
as a political columnist in 1996.
Zemmour has written biographies of Jacques Chirac
(L'homme qui ne s'aimait pas or "The man who did not like himself") and Édouard Balladur
(Balladur, immobile à grands pas or "Balladur, standstill with big steps") as well as numerous political essays. In 2006, he published the best-selling Le premier sexe, an essay on what he considers the feminization
of society. During the same year, he also co-wrote the award-winning film Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac
.
Beginning in September 2006, Zemmour began appearing on the Saturday evening France 2
show On n'est pas couché, hosted by Laurent Ruquier
. In addition, he is a weekly panelist on Ça se dispute, a current affairs show appearing on I-Télé.
In 2006, Zemmour was a member of the admissions committee of the École nationale d'administration, the same panel which had twice rejected him for admission.
). Declaring that the role of fathers is very different from that of mothers, he has alienated, besides feminists, men disputing his vision (including actor Francis Huster
). Zemmour accuses these opponents of being demagogues obsessed with political correctness
and ignoring the history of French society and misunderstanding of Sigmund Freud
's works. Others, including author Franz-Olivier Giesbert
, have lauded his views. He supports the patriarchy
view.
ism", placing him in opposition to many politicians (including Bernard Kouchner
), intellectuals (including Bernard-Henri Lévy
), and organizations advocating humanitarian intervention
, which Zemmour considers to be a form of neo-colonialism. On the 12th of September 2009 during the TV show On n'est pas couché, Zemmour had an argument with Samuel Benchetrit about re-considering the pros and the cons of death penalty by stating that, with its abolition in France, it has created a disproportion in the hierarchy of major crimes. While presenting his arguments, Zemmour angered Samuel Benchetrit who apparently was against this form of punishment.
and Bonapartist
, and places himself in a profoundly anti-liberal
(economically and socially) portion of the French right
. He also considers himself to be a reactionary
, in that he believes his views to be a reaction to a society that dismantles the social order, especially family and tradition, in the pursuit of a false goal: liberating the individual, who only finds himself isolated and reduced to the status of consumer. He reserves subversiveness for the right-wing, arguing that the progressives now dominant in French culture and media can no longer claim to be critics of the established order since they have become the established order.
Zemmour's anti-liberalism also causes him to oppose European federalism. He considers Europe to be profoundly liberal and out of step with the French social order. He also believes that within a European community, the political right and left are forced to advocate "the same economic policy, social liberalism or liberal socialism", since, in the words of Philippe Séguin
, "right and left are outlets of the same wholesaler, Europe."
, and is staunchly opposed to "mass" immigration brought on by family reunification
and to the current process of integrating immigrants which he considers too lenient towards them. He has frequently declared that he is in favour of assimilation. He is also in favour of the Thierry Mariani
amendment, which would require people wishing to immigrate to France on the basis of family reunification to prove their relationship via DNA testing. He is frequently criticized for his pronouncements on immigration and his attacks on certain organizations (including SOS Racisme
).
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
conservative political journalist and writer. He has been a columnist for the daily newsparer Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
and a panelist on France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
talk-show On n'est pas couché and on I-Télé current affairs show Ça se dispute. He has received fame as well as controversy for his very conservative views about national sovereignty
National sovereignty
National sovereignty is the doctrine that sovereignty belongs to and derives from the nation, an abstract entity normally linked to a physical territory and its past, present, and future citizens. It is an ideological concept or doctrine derived from liberal political theory...
and patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
and for his criticism towards immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, European integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
and egalitarian
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
activism.
Life and career
Éric Zemmour was born in MontreuilMontreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is the third most populous suburb of Paris...
, Seine-Saint-Denis
Seine-Saint-Denis
- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to Roger and Lucette Zemmour, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
who left their native Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
during the country's struggle for independence. Zemmour attended École Yabn, a well-regarded Jewish high school in Paris, which reportedly left a lasting impact on his self-image.
After graduating from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
, Zemmour made two unsuccessful attempts to gain admission to the École nationale d'administration
École nationale d'administration
The École Nationale d'Administration , one of the most prestigious of French graduate schools , was created in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle to democratise access to the senior civil service. It is now entrusted with the selection and initial training of senior French officials...
. He took a job instead with Le Quotidien de Paris
Le Quotidien de Paris
Le Quotidien de Paris was a French newspaper founded in 1974 by Philippe Tesson. Along with Le Quotidien du Médecin and Le Quotidien du Pharmacien, Le Quotidien made up the Groupe Quotidien , with all now defunct. Philippe Tesson intended for it to be the successor to the daily newspaper Combat,...
, under the leadership of its founder Philippe Tesson. His next position was as editorialist at Info-Matin, a newly-founded French daily. He was also a contributor to Globe Hebdo, a weekly news-magazine, before eventually joining Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
as a political columnist in 1996.
Zemmour has written biographies of Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
(L'homme qui ne s'aimait pas or "The man who did not like himself") and Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
(Balladur, immobile à grands pas or "Balladur, standstill with big steps") as well as numerous political essays. In 2006, he published the best-selling Le premier sexe, an essay on what he considers the feminization
Feminization (sociology)
In sociology, feminization is the shift in gender roles and sex roles in a society, group, or organization towards a focus upon the feminine. This is the opposite of a cultural focus upon masculinity....
of society. During the same year, he also co-wrote the award-winning film Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac
Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac
Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac is a 2006 award winning film by Karl Zero and Michel Royer. It has been produced by the same team which produced March of the Penguins....
.
Beginning in September 2006, Zemmour began appearing on the Saturday evening France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
show On n'est pas couché, hosted by Laurent Ruquier
Laurent Ruquier
Laurent Ruquier, born February 24, 1963 in Le Havre , Normandy, France is a popular French journalist, satirical comedian, and TV and radio host. He is also a columnist, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and impresario.-Biography:...
. In addition, he is a weekly panelist on Ça se dispute, a current affairs show appearing on I-Télé.
In 2006, Zemmour was a member of the admissions committee of the École nationale d'administration, the same panel which had twice rejected him for admission.
Anti-feminism
In Le Premier sexe, Zemmour accuses modern feminists of wanting to "castrate" men, and charges their movement with bringing negative consequences upon society (including the loss of the notion of authorityAuthority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
). Declaring that the role of fathers is very different from that of mothers, he has alienated, besides feminists, men disputing his vision (including actor Francis Huster
Francis Huster
Francis Huster is a French stage, film and television actor, film director and scriptwriter.-Biography:Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He studied acting at the Conservatoire of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, at the Cours Florent and at the Conservatoire national , where he had...
). Zemmour accuses these opponents of being demagogues obsessed with political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
and ignoring the history of French society and misunderstanding of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
's works. Others, including author Franz-Olivier Giesbert
Franz-Olivier Giesbert
Franz-Olivier Giesbert is a French journalist and author. He worked for Le Figaro from 1988 to 2000 and Le Point starting in 2000.-Novels:*Un très grand amour, 2010, éditions Gallimard...
, have lauded his views. He supports the patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
view.
Anti-human rightsism
Zemmour regularly takes positions that he describes as "anti-human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
ism", placing him in opposition to many politicians (including Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
), intellectuals (including Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French public intellectual, philosopher and journalist. Often referred to today, in France, simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" movement in 1976.-Early life:...
), and organizations advocating humanitarian intervention
Humanitarian intervention
Humanitarian intervention "refers to a state using military force against another state when the chief publicly declared aim of that military action is ending human-rights violations being perpetrated by the state against which it is directed."...
, which Zemmour considers to be a form of neo-colonialism. On the 12th of September 2009 during the TV show On n'est pas couché, Zemmour had an argument with Samuel Benchetrit about re-considering the pros and the cons of death penalty by stating that, with its abolition in France, it has created a disproportion in the hierarchy of major crimes. While presenting his arguments, Zemmour angered Samuel Benchetrit who apparently was against this form of punishment.
Anti-liberalism
Zemmour considers himself GaullistGaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
and Bonapartist
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
, and places himself in a profoundly anti-liberal
Anti-liberal
Anti-liberal philosophies:*Authoritarianism*Communism*Fascism*Revolutionary Socialism*Conservatism*Traditionalist School...
(economically and socially) portion of the French right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
. He also considers himself to be a reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
, in that he believes his views to be a reaction to a society that dismantles the social order, especially family and tradition, in the pursuit of a false goal: liberating the individual, who only finds himself isolated and reduced to the status of consumer. He reserves subversiveness for the right-wing, arguing that the progressives now dominant in French culture and media can no longer claim to be critics of the established order since they have become the established order.
Zemmour's anti-liberalism also causes him to oppose European federalism. He considers Europe to be profoundly liberal and out of step with the French social order. He also believes that within a European community, the political right and left are forced to advocate "the same economic policy, social liberalism or liberal socialism", since, in the words of Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010....
, "right and left are outlets of the same wholesaler, Europe."
Immigration
Zemmour is an advocate of traditional French assimilationismCultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
, and is staunchly opposed to "mass" immigration brought on by family reunification
Family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well....
and to the current process of integrating immigrants which he considers too lenient towards them. He has frequently declared that he is in favour of assimilation. He is also in favour of the Thierry Mariani
Thierry Mariani
Thierry Mariani is a French politician, Secretary of State for Transport for the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, Transport and Housing Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet in the François Fillon III government, and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-Biography:Thierry Mariani was...
amendment, which would require people wishing to immigrate to France on the basis of family reunification to prove their relationship via DNA testing. He is frequently criticized for his pronouncements on immigration and his attacks on certain organizations (including SOS Racisme
SOS Racisme
SOS Racisme is a French anti-racist NGO, founded in 1984. Its Spanish counterpart, SOS Racismo, is based in Barcelona.-Activities:SOS Racisme's main goal is to fight racial discrimination. Often the plaintiff in discrimination trials, the organization also offers support to immigrants and racial...
).
Personal life
Eric Zemmour is married to Mylène Chichportich who is a jurist and they have two sons Hugo and Thilbault, and a daughter Clarisse.Publications
- Balladur, immobile à grands pas, Grasset, 1995 ISBN 2246489717
- Le Livre noir de la droite, Grasset et Fasquelle, 1998 ISBN 2246562511
- Le Coup d'État des juges, Grasset et Fasquelle, 1998 ISBN 2246525519
- Le Dandy rouge, Plon, 1999 ISBN 2259190588
- Les Rats de garde (co-authored with Patrick Poivre d'ArvorPatrick Poivre d'ArvorPatrick Poivre d'Arvor is a French TV journalist and writer. He is a household name in France, and nicknamed PPDA. With over 30 years and in excess of 4,500 editions of television news to his credit, he was one of the longest serving newsreaders in the world until he was fired in 2008...
), Stock, 2000 ISBN 2234052173 - L'Homme qui ne s'aimait pas, Balland, 2002 ISBN 2715814089
- L'Autre, Denoël, 2004 ISBN 2207254968
- Le Premier sexe, Denoël, 2006 ISBN 2207257444
- Petit frère, Denoël, 2008 ISBN 2207256685
- Mélancolie française, Fayard /Denoël, 2010 ISBN 2213654506
- Z comme Zemmour, Le Cherche Midi, 2011 ISBN 2749118654