The editorial director of France’s most respected newspaper, Le Monde, died after collapsing at his office on Tuesday evening.
Érik Izraelewicz (58) was overseeing the production of the daily paper when he was said to have felt unwell before suffering a heart attack.
A journalist with medical experience attempted to revive him before the arrival of paramedics at the newspaper’s headquarters in Paris. He was taken to hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Izraelewicz was named head of the celebrated daily publication in February 2011 after it was bought by a trio of businessmen. He had previously worked as editor of the business newspapers Les Echos and La Tribune.
Born in Strasbourg in 1954, he graduated from the grande école HEC in 1976 before entering journalism college and obtaining a doctorate in international economics. Known to friends as Izra, he started work as a reporter on Le Monde in 1986. He was the newspaper’s correspondent in New York between 1993 and 1994 and rose to become editor-in-chief before leaving in 2000 to join Les Echos and then La Tribune.
He returned to Le Monde in 2011 as editorial director and a senior member of the paper’s board of directors.
French president François Hollande said it was with “profound sadness” he had learned of Izraelewicz’s death. In a message of condolence to family, friends and colleagues, he said, “France has lost a journalist of great talent, respected by everyone.” – (Guardian service)