Patrick Poivre d'Arvor

French journalist, a reporter with France-Inter, 1971-‘74, head of the political department, 1975-‘76, Assistant editor, 1976-‘83 and 8:00 PM news anchor (Antenne2, 1976-83). An editorial writer at France-Inter, 1979-81, Poivre was Anchor of TF1’s 8:00 PM Journal télévisé from 1987 and Assistant director of the news (TF1, 1989+). He was host and producer of Ex-Libris (TF1, from 1988 winning numerous ‘’7 d’Or’’ awards.

He was the author of successful novels that included "Two Lovers," 1984, "The Women of My Life," 1988 and the story of his anorexic daughter Solenn, who committed suicide, "Letter to an Absent One," 1992.

He married on 3 April 1971; five kids ; Dorothee, Arnaud, Tifaine (deceased), Solenn (deceased) and Morgane. His daughter Solenn had been born exactly a year after the death of her sister Tifaine at the age of three months, and was later buried next to the infant sister. Solenn suffered from anorexia from 1992 on, so severe that when she was hospitalized in October 1992, her dad said that she weighed 31 kg (68 lbs). Solenn threw herself on the subway train tracks on 27 January 1995, 3:03 PM MET and died four hours later at the hospital.

On 16 December 1991, on TF1’s 8:00 PM news broadcast, Poivre declared that he had interviewed Fidel Castro in Cuba a few days earlier. It turned out he had not been to Cuba and had staged a false meeting using other journalist’s questions. A huge protest by the French media was cut short two weeks later, on 28 December, when a press release by TF 1 stated that they were bound to deontology and shocked that some media tried to discredit one of their best journalists.

Poivre's life was touched by scandal when he was accused of being a beneficiary in the Buton case. In 1988 and 1989, Poivre traveled by plane in Europe, to the Caribbean, to the Bermudas and elsewhere with tickets paid by Botton's company, and used Botton's private helicopter to travel to his cottage in Brittany during week-ends.