Editing Le Figaro (section)

==History==
[[File:Premier numéro du Figaro.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|left|6th issue, 20 January 1826]]
[[File:Figaro 4 aout 1914.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Front page of {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}}, 4 August 1914]]
{{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} was founded as a satirical weekly in 1826,<ref name=bbc11>{{cite news|title=The press in France|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4295349.stm|access-date=22 November 2014|work=BBC|date=11 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Media Landscape Media Claims |url=http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/round6/methods/ESS6_media_landscape_media_claims_ed_02_0.pdf |publisher=European Social Survey |access-date=12 January 2015 |date=May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816014141/http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/round6/methods/ESS6_media_landscape_media_claims_ed_02_0.pdf |archive-date=16 August 2014}}</ref> taking its name and [[motto]] from ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|Le Mariage de Figaro]]'', the 1778 play by [[Pierre Beaumarchais]] that poked fun at privilege. Its motto, from Figaro's monologue in the play's final act, is "''Sans la liberté de blâmer, il n'est point d'éloge flatteur''" ("Without the freedom to criticise, there is no flattering praise"). In 1833, editor [[Nestor Roqueplan]] fought a duel with a Colonel Gallois, who was offended by an article in {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}}, and was wounded but recovered.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Dueling Including Narratives of the Most Remarkable Encounters|author=Millingen, J.G.|year=2004}}</ref> [[Albert Wolff (journalist)|Albert Wolff]], [[Émile Zola]], [[Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr]], [[Théophile Gautier]], and [[Jules Arsène Arnaud Claretie]] were among the paper's early contributors. It was published somewhat irregularly until 1854, when it was taken over by [[Hippolyte de Villemessant]].

In 1866, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} became a daily newspaper.<ref>{{cite web|title=Historical development of the media in France|url=http://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335236220.pdf|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|access-date=24 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225005455/http://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335236220.pdf|archive-date=25 February 2015}}</ref> Its first daily edition, that of 16 November 1866, sold 56,000 copies, having highest circulation of any newspaper in France. Its editorial line was royalist.<ref>Alan Grubb, [https://books.google.com/books?id=82y4liegw5kC&pg=PA409 The Politics of Pessimism: Albert de Broglie and Conservative Politics in the Early Third Republic]</ref> [[Pauline Savari]] was among the contributors to the paper at this time.

On 20 February 1909 {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} published a manifesto signed by [[Filippo Tommaso Marinetti]] which initiated the establishment of [[Futurism]] in art.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi |year=1992|title=The aestheticization of politics: A study of power in Mussolini's fascist Italy|degree=PhD |id={{ProQuest|303984014}}|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=67|isbn=979-8-207-42060-8}}</ref>

On 16 March 1914, [[Gaston Calmette]], the editor of {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}}, was assassinated by [[Henriette Caillaux]], the wife of [[Ministry of Economics and Finance (France)|Finance Minister]] [[Joseph Caillaux]], after he published a letter that cast serious doubt on her husband's integrity.<ref>Sarah Sissmann and Christophe Barbier, [http://www.lexpress.fr/info/societe/dossier/faitdiv/dossier.asp?ida=429007 "Une épouse outragée"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703212939/http://www1.lexpress.fr/info/societe/dossier/faitdiv/dossier.asp?ida=429007 |date=3 July 2006 }}, ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'', 30 August 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref> In 1922, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} was purchased by perfume millionaire [[François Coty]].<ref>Janet Flanner (3 May 1930),[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/050314fr_archive01?050314fr_archive01 "Perfume and Politics"], ''[[The New Yorker]]''. Republished 7 May 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref> [[Abel Faivre]] did cartoons for the paper.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/359/|title=Deposit Your Gold for France. Gold Fights for Victory |website=[[World Digital Library]]|year=1915|access-date=26 October 2013}}</ref> Coty enraged many in March 1929 when he renamed the paper simply ''Figaro'', which it remained until 1933.<ref>Roulhac Toledano, Elizabeth Z. Coty, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lqCC4JUOw_4C&dq=coty+change+name+le+figaro&pg=PA147 "Napoleon of the Press"],"François Coty: Fragrance, Power, Money". Retrieved 28 May 2018</ref>

By the start of [[World War II]], {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} had become France's leading newspaper. After the war, it became the voice of the [[upper middle class]], and continues to maintain a conservative position.

[[File:Figaro 1923.JPG|upright=0.8|thumb|Share of the Société du Figaro, issued 13 June 1923]]

In 1975, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} was bought by [[Robert Hersant]]'s [[Socpresse]]. In 1999, [[The Carlyle Group]] obtained a 40% stake in the paper, which it later sold in March 2002. Since March 2004, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} has been controlled by [[Serge Dassault]],<ref name=bbc11/> a conservative businessman and politician best known for running the aircraft manufacturer [[Dassault Aviation]], which he inherited from his father, its founder, [[Marcel Dassault]] (1892–1986). Dassault owns 80% of the paper, by way of its media subsidiary [[Groupe Figaro]].<ref name=bbc11/>

[[Franz-Olivier Giesbert]] was editorial director of ''Le Figaro'' from 1998 to 2000.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 October 2022 |title=Franz-Olivier Giesbert |url=https://www.lesoir.be/473543/article/2022-10-26/franz-olivier-giesbert |url-status=live |language=fr |newspaper=[[Le Soir]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230623153141/https://www.lesoir.be/473543/article/2022-10-26/franz-olivier-giesbert |archive-date=23 June 2023 |access-date=23 June 2023 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2006, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} was banned in [[Egypt]] and [[Tunisia]] for publishing articles allegedly insulting [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/PolicingBelief_Egypt.pdf|title=The impact of blasphemy laws on human Rights|format=Policy Brief|work=Freedom House|access-date=29 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cpj.org/2006/09/tunisia-egypt-ban-newspaper-editions-on-controvers.php|title=Tunisia, Egypt ban newspaper editions on controversy over pope's comments|date=27 September 2006|location=New York|work=CPJ|access-date=29 September 2013}}</ref>

{{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} switched to Berliner format in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Le Figaro|url=http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/medienindex/media_articles/?frommedia=505|publisher=Euro Topics|access-date=25 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413215147/http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/medienindex/media_articles/?frommedia=505|archive-date=13 April 2015}}</ref> The paper has published ''The New York Times International Weekly'' on Friday since 2009, an 8-page supplement featuring a selection of articles from ''[[The New York Times]]'' translated into French. In 2010, Lefigaro.fr created a section called Le Figaro in English,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plus.lefigaro.fr/cercle/le-figaro-in-english|title=Mon Figaro - Cercle - Le Figaro in English - articles|work=Le Figaro|access-date=5 July 2012|archive-date=5 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705181712/http://plus.lefigaro.fr/cercle/le-figaro-in-english}}</ref> which provides the global English-speaking community with daily original or translated content from {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}}{{'s}} website. The section ended in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plus.lefigaro.fr/note/this-weeks-top-stories-from-france-20120426-905995|title=Mon Figaro - This Week's Top Stories from France|work=Le Figaro|date=26 April 2012|access-date=5 July 2012}}</ref>

In the 2010s, {{Lang|fr|Le Figaro}} saw future presidential candidate [[Éric Zemmour]]'s columns garner great interest among readers that would later serve to launch his political career.<ref>[https://www.leparisien.fr/politique/presidentielle-2022-zemmour-se-retire-du-figaro-pour-la-promotion-de-son-livre-un-pas-de-plus-vers-une-candidature-01-09-2021-IFULPPITHVBWNDQPH2KSKUBIWA.php "Présidentielle 2022 : Zemmour se retire du Figaro pour la promotion de son livre, un pas de plus vers une candidature ?"], ''[[Le Parisien]]'' (in French), 1 September 2021.</ref>