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André Fontaine

André Fontaine, French historian and journalist (died 2013)

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Born
March 30, 1921
Died
March 17, 2013
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1921

About André Fontaine

André Fontaine was a French historian and journalist. He started working at Temps Présent, and then was director at Le Monde in 1947, at the official beginning of the Cold War. He became the newspaper's editor from 1969 to 1985, and director from 1985 to 1991. As of February 2007 he was still contributing articles to the paper. André Fontaine is famous for his historical thesis, according to which the Cold War in fact started as soon as 1917 with the cordon sanitaire policy. His father Georges Fontaine, a sales clerk, was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France). André Fontaine graduated from the Society of Mary (Marianists) Lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie de Monceau with a licentiate in literature, and advanced degrees in public law and political economy.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

André Fontaine timeline

  1. His father Georges Fontaine, a sales clerk, was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France).
  2. André Fontaine is famous for his historical thesis, according to which the Cold War in fact started as soon as 1917 with the cordon sanitaire policy.
  3. He became the newspaper's editor from 1969 to 1985, and director from 1985 to 1991.

The world when André Fontaine was born

André Fontaine was born in 1921. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1921

  • #1 song"My Man" – Fanny Brice
  • Top movieThe Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best-selling bookMain Street – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier — first million-dollar gate
  • Top headlineWarren G. Harding inaugurated as 29th President
  • Technology milestoneAlbert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Defining fadOuija boards
  • Notable inventionLie detector (polygraph)
  • World population1.88 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population108.5M

1921 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in André Fontaine's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19212026
Gas$0.26$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,010$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population108.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.