Aron's previous journal venture, started in 1970 and titled Contrepoint, had been terminated in 1976 following disagreements among its founders and its owner Patrick Devedjian. In a wide-ranging 2008 interview, Casanova described the decision to create Commentaire as having been made in late 1977 and involving, besides Aron and himself, a group of common friends that included Annie Kriegel, Jean Baechler, Alain Besançon, François Bourricaud[fr], and Kostas Papaïoannou[fr]. The journal's motto, a quote from Pericles, was suggested by Papaioannou: Il n’y a pas de bonheur sans liberté, ni de liberté sans vaillance ("there can be neither happiness without liberty, nor liberty without courage"). Pierre Manent was the author of a manifesto explaining the journal's purpose in the first issue.[1]
The journal relies largely on volunteer work and a small administrative staff. In 2008, it printed 6,000 copies and had 3,800 subscribers, the rest being sold in bookstores and news shops.[3]
A specific feature is the abundance of selected quotes in each of the journal's issues. A section titled sans commentaire ("no comment") includes involuntary comical quotes, often from political leaders or ideological commentators.[4]
In 2017, Commentaire made all its past published articles available online.[5] Like its center-left peer Esprit, it is self-published and not dependent on a large publishing house.[6]
Affiliates
As of early 2021, Commentaire's website mentioned two circles of affiliates (including past and deceased ones):[7]
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
The Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences is a graduate grande école and grand établissement in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions of graduate education in France. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjointly with the grandes écoles École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, and École pratique des hautes études.
Fabrice Luchini is a French stage and film actor. He has appeared in films such as Potiche, The Women on the 6th Floor, and In the House.
The Lycée Condorcet is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, various political eras have seen it given a number of different names, but its identity today honors the memory of the Marquis de Condorcet. The school provides secondary education as part of the French education system. Henri Bergson, Horace Finaly, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Marcel Proust, Jean-Luc Marion, Francis Poulenc and Paul Verlaine are some of the students who attended the Lycée Condorcet.
Louis Pauwels was a French journalist and writer.
The Saint-Simon Foundation was a French think tank that was created in 1982 and brought together public intellectuals, journalists, senior civil servants, business leaders, trade unionists, and academics. It terminated its activity in 1999, largely because its co-founder Pierre Rosanvallon decided to move on to other projects.
Arthena or Association pour la Diffusion de l'Histoire de l'Art is a French company which regularly publishes art history books and most particularly catalogues.
Véronique Silver was a French actress.
The prix Guillaume Apollinaire is a French poetry prize first awarded in 1941. It was named in honour of French writer Guillaume Apollinaire. It annually recognizes a collection of poems for its originality and modernity.
First Secretary of the Socialist Party Martine Aubry began a campaign for the Socialist Party and Radical Party of Left presidential primary, 2011 for President of France in June 2011. Aubry announced she was running for president during a meeting in former train station of Lille-Saint-Sauveur held on 28 June 2011.
Laure Adler is a French journalist, writer, publisher and radio/TV producer.
Frédéric Jacques Temple was a French poet and writer. His work includes poems, novels, travel stories and essays.
Alexis Galpérine is a French classical violinist.
Jean-Claude Casanova is a French economist, educator and public intellectual with a lifetime involvement in French civic life. He was the chairman of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques between 2007 and 2016. A centrist in politics, he cofounded the journal Commentaire with Raymond Aron in 1978, and since then has been its editor and publisher (directeur).
The Institut National du Football de Vichy, more commonly known as INF Vichy, was a football academy based in Vichy, France. Founded in 1972 by the French Football Federation, it was dissolved in 1990. The academy had a team that competed in the Division 3.
Jean Baechler, born 28 March 1937 in Thionville (Moselle) and died 13 August 2022 in Draveil, was a French academic and sociologist.
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