Le Figaro

   A Parisian newspaper, Le Figaro was founded in 1826 as a satirical weekly. Taken over by H. de Villemessant in 1854, it became a daily in 1866. At the beginning of the third republic, Le Figaro expressed the monarchist viewpoint but gradually came over to moderate republicanism, reflecting the view of the Parisian bourgeoisie. Directed successively by F. Magnard, gaston calmette until his assassination in 1914 (see joseph caillaux), then R. de Flers and A. Capus, Le Figaro was owned by and served as the political organ for the perfumer F. Coty from 1922 to 1933, with L. Romier and A. Chaumeix as editors in chief. Taken over by Mme Cotnareanu (the former Mme Coty), Le Figaro had P. Brisson as director from 1934 to 1942 and from 1944 to 1964. It was then acquired by the Prou-vost-Beghin group. Considered an important political and literary organ of the bourgeoise press, Le Figaro has always featured the articles of noted journalists. A weekly, Le Figaro littéraire, was published separately from 1946 to 1970, before being integrated into the newspaper as a supplement. Le Figaro has been owned by R. Hersant since 1975, and there is now also published a Figaro magazine (since 1978) and a Madame Figaro (since 1980).