Press: Founder of “L’Événement du Jeudi” and “Marianne”, Jean-François Kahn died at the age of 86

Journalist and editorialist then politically engaged, Jean-François Kahn founded two major titles in the French press: L'Événement du Jeudi in 1984 (disappeared in 2001) and Marianne in 1997, of which he was director until 2007.

Son of the philosopher Jean Kahn, Jean-François Kahn had two brothers: Olivier Kahn, chemist who died in 1999, and Axel Kahn, famous geneticist and president of the National League Against Cancer, who died in 2021.

“A little Marxist, a little Christian, a little Jewish, a little Parisian, a little Burgundy, a little European, a little left, a little liberal”, Jean-François Kahn became involved in politics with François Bayrou after the 2007 Presidential election. “Finally from the center, where he has never been more himself”, underlined Le Point in its tribute this Thursday.

Jean-François Kahn has worked for numerous media outlets throughout his career, including Paris Presse l'Intransigeant, Le Monde and L'Express, during the Algerian war.

This Thursday, Marianne's editorial team indicated “to be in mourning”. “His journalistic and political commitments were marked by the refusal of all intellectual conformism,” underlined the tribute published on the magazine’s website.