Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
Encyclopedia
Patrick 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. He presented his last newscast on TF1 on 10 July 2008.
, France. He obtained his Baccalauréat
at 15, the year he became a father. He attended the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
, where he studied Law and Oriental Languages at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
. Poivre claims to be descended directly from Jacques Poivre, brother of Pierre Poivre
, an 18th century nobleman in the time of Louis XV, "d'Arvor" being Jacques Poivre's pseudonym. Poivre, his siblings and his three surviving children legally changed their surname to "Poivre d'Arvor" in 1994.
as morning newsreader.
In 1974, at the time of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
's accession to the Presidency, Poivre joined Antenne 2. He made his first TV appearance there in 1975, and was presenter for news bulletins from 16 February 1976 to 28 July 1983. After a brief stint with Canal+
, he joined TF1
in 1986 for the Sunday program A la folie pas du tout and Ex Libris, from Frederic Lepage
.
On 31 August 1987, he became presenter for the weekday news of TF1
at 8 pm from Monday to Thursday. He is satirised in the French puppet show Les Guignols de l'info
on Canal+
, where his alter ego
is the puppet PPD, the news presenter
. In 2004, Poivre was cast in a minor voice-only role as a newscaster in the French version of the Pixar
animated film The Incredibles
(Les Indestructibles).
On 9 June 2008, it was reported that Poivre d'Arvor was replaced as presenter of the 8 pm news by Laurence Ferrari
. He made his last broadcast on 10 July. In an interview, he said that there was "no objective" reason for his dismissal, but declined to comment on "rumours" of political interference.
Since January 2009, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor runs through La traversée du miroir on France 5
. He also animated L'avis des autres on Arte
.
In July 2009, he was approached by the I-Télé channel to presentThe18h-20h. But he declined the invitation.
In June 2010, he led a team in the French TV show Fort Boyard
.
, broadcast on 16 December 1991. Télérama
journalist Pierre Carles
exposed this fraud, which Poivre blamed on his colleague and co-interviewer Régis Faucon, after the latter had departed TF1.
On 10 January 1996, the Court of Appeal sentenced Poivre to 15 months in prison (suspended) and fined him 200,000 Franc
s for his part in misappropriation of public funds in a case involving Pierre Botton and his father-in-law and then deputy mayor of Lyon, Michel Noir.
On 11 September 2001, at 10:15 EDT, while he was interviewing a reporter from New York, a sequence from Star Wars episode IV
briefly replaced the live satellite feed from New York showing the World Trade Center
. The sequence occurs at the 91st minute of the film, which would place the logical beginning of the film at 08:44, two minutes before the impact on the first tower. The picture quickly switched to PPDA who appeared confused. The glitch was covered on the premium pay television channel Canal+
's Zapping program, and later columnist Alain Rémond
wrote about this incident in the weekly Télérama
on 13 October 2001, jokingly asking if al-Qaeda
operatives had infiltrated TF1
.
In December 2008, Nonce Paolini, former Chief Executive of TF1
, filed for defamation against Poivre d'Arvor in the Correctional Tribunal of Paris: during an interview by Bretons in the preceding July, Poivre had accused the TF1 chief of having "installed a clocking-in system with access badges" and had formed "a private police force whose aim was scrutinising staff movements in the smallest detail".
In January 2011, he became the focus of a plagiarism
scandal, accused of stealing the work of a U.S. author in a book on the life of Ernest Hemingway
.
and bulimia, with Poivre becoming a campaigner and writer on the issue. In December 2004, Bernadette Chirac
, wife of former President Jacques Chirac
, whose daughter also suffered from the disorder, opened a treatment centre in Paris for adolescents and named it “Maison de Solenn”.
Poivre caused controversy by presenting his regular news bulletin the evening after Solenn's death.
For several years in the 1990s, rumours abounded that Poivre had had an affair with Claire Chazal
, his weekend counterpart as TF1 8 pm news presenter. The pair refused to confirm the story until August 2005, when Poivre acknowledged in "Confessions", a book of interviews to journalist Serge Raffy, that he was the father of Chazal's 10-year-old son, François. "We had set at [François' age] ten the time that this story would be revealed", Poivre said.
Biography
Patrick Poivre was born in ReimsReims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, France. He obtained his Baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
at 15, the year he became a father. He attended 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...
, where he studied Law and Oriental Languages at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...
. Poivre claims to be descended directly from Jacques Poivre, brother of Pierre Poivre
Pierre Poivre
Pierre Poivre was a French horticulturalist born in Lyon; missionary to China and Cochinchina, Intendant of the Islands of Mauritius and Bourbon, and wearer of the cordon of St. Michel...
, an 18th century nobleman in the time of Louis XV, "d'Arvor" being Jacques Poivre's pseudonym. Poivre, his siblings and his three surviving children legally changed their surname to "Poivre d'Arvor" in 1994.
Journalistic career
Poivre started training as a journalist at the Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) at 22. He obtained his first job in 1971 on France InterFrance Inter
France Inter is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of...
as morning newsreader.
In 1974, at the time of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
's accession to the Presidency, Poivre joined Antenne 2. He made his first TV appearance there in 1975, and was presenter for news bulletins from 16 February 1976 to 28 July 1983. After a brief stint with Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
, he joined TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
in 1986 for the Sunday program A la folie pas du tout and Ex Libris, from Frederic Lepage
Frederic Lepage
Frederic Lepage is writer and producer of several hundreds of TV shows and documentaries. His first feature film, Sunny and the Elephant, was released in France in december 2008.- Literary career :...
.
On 31 August 1987, he became presenter for the weekday news of TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
at 8 pm from Monday to Thursday. He is satirised in the French puppet show Les Guignols de l'info
Les Guignols de l'info
Les Guignols de l'info is a satirical latex puppet show broadcast on Canal+, a French subscription-based television channel. Hosted by a puppet facsimile of TF1 news anchor Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, Les Guignols is similar to the 1984–1996 British show Spitting Image...
on Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
, where his alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
is the puppet PPD, the news presenter
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
. In 2004, Poivre was cast in a minor voice-only role as a newscaster in the French version of the Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
animated film The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
(Les Indestructibles).
On 9 June 2008, it was reported that Poivre d'Arvor was replaced as presenter of the 8 pm news by Laurence Ferrari
Laurence Ferrari
Laurence Ferrari is a French journalist of Italian origin, and currently anchor of the TF1 weekday evening news. It is the most viewed news television programme in Europe.-Early life and education:...
. He made his last broadcast on 10 July. In an interview, he said that there was "no objective" reason for his dismissal, but declined to comment on "rumours" of political interference.
Since January 2009, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor runs through La traversée du miroir on France 5
France 5
France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...
. He also animated L'avis des autres on Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
.
In July 2009, he was approached by the I-Télé channel to presentThe18h-20h. But he declined the invitation.
In June 2010, he led a team in the French TV show Fort Boyard
Fort Boyard
Fort Boyard is a fort located between the Île-d'Aix and the Île d'Oléron in the Pertuis d'Antioche straits, on the west coast of France. Though a fort on Boyard bank was suggested as early as the 17th century, it was not until the 1800s under Napoleon Bonaparte that work began.-Layout:Fort...
.
Professional controversies
His greatest controversy is the faked interview - actually footage of a press conference with added questions - he purported to have made with Cuban president Fidel CastroFidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, broadcast on 16 December 1991. Télérama
Télérama
Télérama is a weekly French magazine owned by Le Monde S.A. Its primary contents are television and radio listings, though the magazine also prints film, theatre, music and book reviews, as well as cover stories and feature articles of cultural interest. The name is a contraction of its earlier...
journalist Pierre Carles
Pierre Carles
Pierre Carles is a French documentarist, who has often been compared to Michael Moore for his use of the documentary form to denounce mainstream media, which he accuses of having conflicts of interest .-Filmography:...
exposed this fraud, which Poivre blamed on his colleague and co-interviewer Régis Faucon, after the latter had departed TF1.
On 10 January 1996, the Court of Appeal sentenced Poivre to 15 months in prison (suspended) and fined him 200,000 Franc
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s for his part in misappropriation of public funds in a case involving Pierre Botton and his father-in-law and then deputy mayor of Lyon, Michel Noir.
On 11 September 2001, at 10:15 EDT, while he was interviewing a reporter from New York, a sequence from Star Wars episode IV
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
briefly replaced the live satellite feed from New York showing the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. The sequence occurs at the 91st minute of the film, which would place the logical beginning of the film at 08:44, two minutes before the impact on the first tower. The picture quickly switched to PPDA who appeared confused. The glitch was covered on the premium pay television channel Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
's Zapping program, and later columnist Alain Rémond
Alain Rémond
Alain Rémond is a famous French humor columnist, born in 1946 in Mortain .-Biography:Alain Rémond was born into a modest Breton family...
wrote about this incident in the weekly Télérama
Télérama
Télérama is a weekly French magazine owned by Le Monde S.A. Its primary contents are television and radio listings, though the magazine also prints film, theatre, music and book reviews, as well as cover stories and feature articles of cultural interest. The name is a contraction of its earlier...
on 13 October 2001, jokingly asking if al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
operatives had infiltrated TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
.
In December 2008, Nonce Paolini, former Chief Executive of TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, filed for defamation against Poivre d'Arvor in the Correctional Tribunal of Paris: during an interview by Bretons in the preceding July, Poivre had accused the TF1 chief of having "installed a clocking-in system with access badges" and had formed "a private police force whose aim was scrutinising staff movements in the smallest detail".
In January 2011, he became the focus of a plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
scandal, accused of stealing the work of a U.S. author in a book on the life of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
Personal life
He is married to Véronique, with whom he has three daughters and one son. One daughter, Solenn, committed suicide at a Paris metro station in 1995, aged 19, having been a long-term anorexic. Her plight became a symbol of the problems of anorexiaAnorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
and bulimia, with Poivre becoming a campaigner and writer on the issue. In December 2004, Bernadette Chirac
Bernadette Chirac
Bernadette Thérèse Marie Chirac is a French politician and the wife of the former President Jacques Chirac....
, wife of former President 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...
, whose daughter also suffered from the disorder, opened a treatment centre in Paris for adolescents and named it “Maison de Solenn”.
Poivre caused controversy by presenting his regular news bulletin the evening after Solenn's death.
For several years in the 1990s, rumours abounded that Poivre had had an affair with Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal is a French journalist, romance writer, and director of news at a national television station, TF1....
, his weekend counterpart as TF1 8 pm news presenter. The pair refused to confirm the story until August 2005, when Poivre acknowledged in "Confessions", a book of interviews to journalist Serge Raffy, that he was the father of Chazal's 10-year-old son, François. "We had set at [François' age] ten the time that this story would be revealed", Poivre said.
Published works
He has published many books, two of which are dedicated to his daughter Solenn. He has also written prefaces to books by other authors, and these are not listed here.- Les enfants de l'aube, 1982 J.-C. Lattès, ISBN 2-7096-0148-6 adapted as a TV movie starring Cyril Descours
- Les Femmes de ma vie, 1988 France Loisirs
- L'homme d'image, 1992 Flammarion, ISBN 2-08-066802-1
- Lettres à l'absente 1993 Albin Michel
- Les loups et la bergerie, 1994 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-06987-9
- Elle n'était pas d'ici, 1995 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-07846-0
- Un Héros de passage, 1996 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-08563-7
- Une trahison amoureuse, 1997 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-09356-7
- Lettre ouverte aux violeurs de vie privee, 1997 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-09204-8
- La Fin du monde 1998 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-10009-1
- Petit Homme, 1999 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-10658-8
- L'Irrésolu, 2000 Albin Michel ISBN 2-226-11670-2, - Interallié Prize winner in 2001
- Les rats de garde (co-author Eric Zemmour) 2000 Stock, ISBN 2-234-05217-3
- Le Roman de Virginie, 2001 J'ai lu, ISBN 2-277-22080-9
- Un enfant, 2001 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-12608-2
- La Traversée du miroir, 2002 Balland, ISBN 2-7158-1416-X
- J'ai aimé une reine, 2003 Editions Fayard, ISBN 2-213-61562-4
- Courriers de nuit : La Légende de Mermoz et de Saint-Exupéry, (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2003 Place des Victoires, ISBN 2-84459-045-4
- La mort de Don Juan, 2004 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-15400-0
- Frères et soeur, 2004 Balland, ISBN 2-7158-1482-8
- Les plus beaux poemes d'amour anthologie, 2004 Albin Michel, ISBN 2-226-07996-3
- Chasseurs de trésors et autres flibustiers (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2005 Place Des Victoires Eds, ISBN 2-84459-110-8
- Pirates et corsaires (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2005 Place Des Victoires Eds, ISBN 2-84459-075-6
- Coureurs des mers, (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2005 Place Des Victoires Eds, ISBN 2-84459-058-6
- Disparaître (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2006 Gallimard, ISBN 2-07-077966-1
- Rêveurs des Mers, (co-author Olivier Poivre d'Arvor), 2007 Place des Victoires Eds, ISBN 978-2-253-11545-8
- Age d'or du voyage en train 2006 Editions du Chene-Hachette-Livre. English translation 2007 "First Class-Legendary Train Journeys Around the World" The Vendome Press ISBN 13-978-0-86565-188-3