François Cavanna

Who was François Cavanna?

François Cavanna was a French author and satirical newspaper editor. He contributed to the creation and success of Hari Kiri and Charlie Hebdo. He wrote in a variety of genres including reportage, satire, essays, novels, autobiography and humor. He also translated six books about famous cartoonists.

Cavanna was born in Nogent-sur-Marne. Although raised in France, he grew up surrounded by Italian immigrants due to his father's being from Italy. He treated this life in his books Les Ritals and L'oeil du lapin. At the age of 16, he took up various part-time jobs. He delivered letters for the postal service, sold fruits and vegetables, and was a mason's apprentice. His journalistic début came in 1945 when he began to work for the daily Libération.

In November 1969, Hara Kiri was banned by the authorities for being 'pornographic'. Cavanna came up with the expedient of renaming the magazine for the next weeks' issue, and thus, Charlie Hebdo was born.

Later, he turned to autobiographical writing. Les Ritals, mentioned above, dealt with his childhood, while Les Russkoffs treated his experience in World War II. Les Russkoffs was the novel for which he won the Prix Interallié in 1979.