LAZAREFF, PIERRE

LAZAREFF, PIERRE (1907–1972), prominent French newspaper editor. Already in his youth Lazareff had made his mark as a gifted journalist. In 1931, when he was news editor of the Paris-Midi, he was appointed editor of the newly created evening paper Paris-Soir. Deliberately setting out to adopt American newspaper methods, combining sensationalism and human interest with solid editorial comment, Lazareff succeeded in increasing its circulation in five years from 134,000 to nearly 2,500,000, a record figure for the French Press, which earned him the title "the French Northcliffe." On the collapse of France in World War II he went into exile, first to the U.S., where he became head of the Voice of America broadcasting program, and then to London, where he was in charge of American broadcasts to Nazi-occupied Europe. Returning to Paris in 1945 he took over the management of a new evening paper France-Soir together with that of some other journals, and repeated the same success as with Paris-Soir. In 1958 he extended his activities to television with a popular news commentary. Lazareff was an ardent supporter of General de Gaulle. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Times (April 4, 1972).