Jean Prouvost facts for kids
Jean Prouvost (born April 24, 1885, in Roubaix – died October 18, 1978, in Yvoy-le-Marron) was a very important French businessman. He owned many newspapers and magazines. He was also involved in politics for a short time. Prouvost is famous for creating and owning popular publications like France-Soir, Paris Match, and Télé 7 Jours.
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How Jean Prouvost Started
Jean Prouvost came from a family in Northern France that owned factories. His father was Albert Felix Prouvost. Jean was not the oldest son, so he wouldn't take over the family business.
Instead, Jean Prouvost decided to start his own company. In 1911, he borrowed a lot of money and began a textile company called La Lainière de Roubaix. This company quickly became a very important leader in the European textile industry.
Building a Newspaper Empire
After the First World War, Jean Prouvost became very interested in newspapers.
Buying Paris-Midi and Paris-Soir
In 1924, he bought a Paris newspaper called Paris-Midi. At first, it only sold about 4,000 copies a day. But six years later, thanks to his smart business ideas, it was selling 100,000 copies!
In 1930, he bought another newspaper, Paris-Soir. He used new ideas he learned from the United States. He made the newspaper look better with lots of photos and used high-quality paper. He also made the stories more interesting.
Top Journalists and Writers
Prouvost hired some of the best journalists. He also asked famous writers to contribute. For example, Colette wrote about different topics, and Jean Cocteau traveled the world for the newspaper. Georges Simenon reported on exciting crime stories.
For war news, Prouvost hired famous writers like Joseph Kessel and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Paris-Soir also published exciting stories in parts, like a TV series.
Growing Success
Paris-Soir was a huge success. In 1930, it sold 70,000 copies. By 1936, it was selling 1.7 million copies!
Soon, Jean Prouvost had a big media group. He bought Marie Claire, a women's magazine, in 1937. The next year, he bought the sports paper Match.
During World War II
During the Second World War, in June 1940, France was about to surrender. Prouvost became a minister in the government for a short time. He was in charge of information.
During the war, two different versions of Paris-Soir were printed. One was in Paris and supported the German occupation. Jean Prouvost and his team did not approve of this version. Another version was printed in Lyon. During this time, Jean Prouvost was disliked by both sides of the conflict. After the war, he was accused of working with the Nazi regime, but the court cleared him in 1947.
Rebuilding After the War
After the war, Jean Prouvost started to rebuild his media group. Many of his newspapers had been taken away.
Paris Match and Marie Claire Return
He lost Paris-Soir forever, but it later became France-Soir under his former employee. However, Match was relaunched in 1949 as Paris Match. Marie Claire also started publishing again in 1953.
In 1950, Prouvost also bought half of the shares of the newspaper Le Figaro.
Télé 7 Jours and Radio
In 1960, Jean Prouvost bought a TV magazine called TV 60. He renamed it Télé 7 Jours. This magazine became incredibly popular, selling 3 million copies in 1978.
Later, Paris Match's sales went down because people started watching more TV and listening to the radio.
In 1966, Prouvost also got involved in radio. He bought a big part of Radio-Télé-Luxembourg. He became the head of the company. He changed the name to RTL to make it sound more French and made the radio shows more modern and friendly.
The End of an Empire
From 1970 onwards, Prouvost's media group started to face problems. In 1975, Le Figaro was sold. In 1976, Télé 7 Jours and Paris Match were also sold to other companies.
By the time Jean Prouvost passed away in October 1978, only the women's magazines remained with his family.
Jean Prouvost's Private Life
Jean Prouvost was married to Germaine Lefebvre.
In 1951, Prouvost became the mayor of Yvoy-le-Marron. This was a small village where he later retired.
See also
In Spanish: Jean Prouvost para niños
