# Daniel Rondeau

Daniel Rondeau (French pronunciation:; born 7 May 1948) is a French writer, editor, and diplomat. Born in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, he studied law at Panthéon-Assas where the spirit of May 68 saw him embrace Maoism and join the proletariat by working from 1970 to 1974 in a factory in Nancy making insulation. He worked for France Inter's Nord-Est radio station from 1977, before moving to Paris, where he worked for the newspapers Libération (1982–1985) Le Nouvel Observateur (1985–1998) and L'Express (1998–2007). He was French ambassador to Malta (2008–2011) and to UNESCO (2011–2013). He has written fiction, reportage, literary criticism and political commentary, and for his oeuvre won the Grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand in 1998. After unsuccessfully standing for election to the Académie Française in 2011 and 2016, he was elected to seat 8 in 2019.

## Works

Works by Daniel Rondeau :
| Title | Date | Notes |
| Chagrin lorrain | 1979 | Account of deindustrialisation in Lorraine |
| L'Âge-Déraison, véritable biographie imaginaire de Johnny H | 1982 | Fictional biography of his friend Johnny Hallyday |
| Trans-Europ-Express | 1984 | Anthology of Libération reportage |
| Tanger | 1987 | Travelogue of Tangiers. |
| L'enthousiasme | 1988 | Memoir of his time as a factory worker in Lorraine. Revised edition in 2006 was the second volume of his autobiography, Mémoire tu l'appelleras |
| Pourquoi écrivez vous? | 1988 | Co-editor with Jean-François Fogel of an anthology of writers explaining their motivations. |
| Les Tambours du Monde | 1989 | Novel |
| Chronique du Liban rebelle 1988–1989 | 1991 | Account of his friend Michel Aoun's interim premiership at the end of the Lebanese Civil War. |
| Portraits champenois | 1991 | Account of his home region of Champagne, with photographs by his brother Gérard Rondeau |
| La Part du diable | 1992 | Novel |
| Littérature notre ciel! | 1992 | Account of Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt [de] |
| Les Fêtes partagées; Lectures et autres voyages | 1994 | Literary anthology |
| Mitterrand et nous | 1994 | Account of the presidency of François Mitterrand |
| Des hommes libres; La France libre par ceux qui l’ont faite | 1997 | Co-editor with Roger Stéphane of accounts by Free French resistance members |
| Alexandrie | 1997 | Travelogue of Alexandria. Winner of the 1998 Prix des Deux Magots |
| Johnny | 1999 | Anthology of journalistic interviews and portraits of Johnny Hallyday. Second edition 2009. |
| Istanbul | 2002 | Travelogue of Istanbul. |
| Dans la marche du temps | 2004 | Novel |
| Camus ou les promesses de la vie | 2005 | Account of Albert Camus' life and work |
| Les vignes de Berlin | 2006 | First volume of his autobiography, Mémoire tu l'appelleras |
| Journal de lectures, 1999–2006 | 2007 | Anthology of literary articles from L'Express |
| Carthage | 2008 | Travelogue and meditation on the ruins and history of Carthage |
| Malta Hanina | 2012 | Account of Malta |
| Vingt ans et plus | 2014 | Excerpts from his 1991–2012 diaries. Winner of the Prix Saint-Simon |
| Boxing-Club | 2016 | Essays on boxing |
| Mécaniques du chaos [fr] | 2017 | Novel. Winner of the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française |
| La raison et le cœur | 2018 | Anthology of political and literary pieces written since 1984, some previously unpublished. |
| Arrière-pays | 2021 | Novel |

## Honours
### French

* Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
* Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
* Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite Maritime

### Foreign (honorary)

* Officer of the National Order of Merit (Malta)
* Commander of the National Order of the Cedar (Lebanon)