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Jean-Pierre Elkabbach died on Tuesday October 3, at the age of 86. With a 50-year career, this incisive interviewer left his mark on a whole generation of political figures.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach was first and foremost a face, a voice, a tone. It all started for him in Oran, Algeria. It was there that he was born in 1937 to a modest Jewish family. He was 12 years old when his father died suddenly. He discovered journalism during the Algerian War. Very quickly, he went to Paris and took his first steps on television. Television and radio, two media, where he sharpens his skills as an incisive interviewer, like on Europe 1. This Elkabbach style, full of nerve, which can also annoy his guests.
“He was a fusion boss”
“I believe without exaggeration that he is the best interviewer I have known. At night, he was capable of calling someone at 4 a.m. to convince them to come”, reveres the journalist Alain Duhamel. Then Jean-Pierre Elkabbach became a talent scout. Firstly, by presiding over France Télévisions, he boosted audiences and gained the loyalty of new presenters. A scandal breaks out, he resigns. “Jean-Pierre was a fusional, volcanic, passionate, exciting boss”, remembers Michel Drucker. Jean-Pierre Elkabbach will end his career by returning to Europe 1. He died on Tuesday October 3, at the age of 86.