Petit Parisien

Le Petit Parisien (October 15, 1876 - August 17, 1944) was one of the main newspapers of the French Third Republic. On the eve of World War I, it was one of the four largest daily newspapers in France, along with Le Petit Journal, Le Matin, and Le Journal. Founded in 1876 by Louis Andrieux, it began as a radical leftist newspaper. In 1884 Jean Dupuy bought Le Petit Parisien, which would stay in the Dupuy family until it was suspended after World War II. At its most successful, just after the end of World War I, the paper had a distribution of 2 million copies, the largest circulation in the world at that time. Jean Dupuy died on December 31, 1919, and direction of the newspaper fell to his two sons, Pierre and Paul. On the eve of World War II, its circulation had begun to falter, but the newspaper was still in print and reported the news. The edition of June 11, 1940 of Le Petit Parisian would be the last ‘true’ edition of the paper to be printed in Paris. Following the Armistice, the paper remained in print, but began to feel the pressure of the Occupation and the Vichy regime. Eventually, Pierre Dupuy was convinced by German and French authorities to return to Paris and to continue printing Le Petit Parisien, but by February 1941, the newspaper had been completely coopted by the Germans and became a mouthpiece for the Occupation. A former worker at the time stated that the paper ceased to be le Petit Parisien, but became le Petit Berlinois. Dupuy, disgraced, left the newspaper, and went to Vichy. The Germans continued to print the newspaper, and continued to pressure Dupuy to sell them the paper. After the liberation of France, Dupuy and others who worked for the newspaper were arrested and charged with collaboration offenses. HIs trial did not begin until 1949, and he was finally acquitted in July 1951. The newspaper Parisien libéré replaced Le Petit Parisien after the war. Today’s newspaper, Le Parisien has its roots, particularly its naming rights, in the Petit Parisien, which were sold several times before being bought by Émilien Amaury, who founded Parisien libéré and, eventually, Le Parisien.