His profile was preferred to that of Anne-Sophie Lapix to lead the debate between the two rounds. Léa Salamé will therefore be alongside Gilles Bouleau this Wednesday, April 20. But this Saturday April 16 it is in We are live that we find the journalist who needs no introduction. Companion of Raphaël Glucksmann and mother of a little Gabriel, she does not stop her ascent. She could even take over Laurent Ruquier’s place on the France 2 show, who could well give up the latter at the end of the season. But by the way what is the meaning of his real name?
Because Léa Salamé is not really called that, but Hala Salame. Last December, it was Eric Zemmour who decided to illustrate his proposal to force parents to “give French first names to their children” by evoking the journalist’s real first name. Born in October 1979 in Lebanon to an Armenian mother and a Lebanese father, she left Beirut with her parents when she was only 5 years old. Big sister of a certain Louma Salamé, she decided to change her first name during adolescence, Hala being the one her parents named her. First name of Arabic origin, Hala translates to “light“, “aureole“, Where “lunar halo“. In Lebanon, this first name means “beauty” and “glory“.
Why did Léa Salamé change her first name?
The 42-year-old journalist actually made this heavy decision after being the subject of many mockeries in the Jesuit school in which she moved. It was in 2015 that Léa Salamé confided in about this change of name. “In France, we pronounced Hala, Allahshe told the magazine The Monthly. I suffered incredible wickedness because my first name was linked to that of Allah.” “It was super violent in my ears, she slipped. Since then, she has been publicly known as Léa Salamé.