The funeral of journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach will be held this Friday, October 6, 2023. His daughter, the actress Emmanuelle Bach, paid him a painful tribute.
The funeral of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, who died Tuesday October 3 at the age of 86, is being held this Friday at the Montparnasse cemetery. His daughter, the actress Emmanuelle Bach, paid him a moving tribute during the ceremony, recalling in particular that he continued to learn about political news in his final years.
She thanked all the people who paid tribute to her father in his last days: “Thanks to you, I measure the dimension of what he did, his thousand and one lives, and sometimes even your affection. Thanks to you , I understand the sacrifices for excellence and I finally realize that they were not in vain. My broken heart is calmed.”
Emmanuelle Bach then recalled her relationship with Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, affirming that he was “not a father like the others”. “So often absent, he who sacrificed everything for his profession, took time to let our love blossom. Once his unhealthy modesty was subdued, he became an omnipresent father, attentive, generous, funny, loving, encouraging. He was my best friend, my confidant, my favorite clown, my fantasy partner and my compass.”
With tears in her eyes, the actress thanked her father for his “exceptional intelligence, [his] kindness, [his] humanity, [his] culture and our struggles.” Before concluding with a heartbreaking: “Goodbye dad”.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach was also president of France Télévision, recalls the public audiovisual group in a press release. The main headquarters building, located in Paris, will be named “Maison Jean-Pierre Elkabbache” and a ceremony will be given in his honor on Monday October 9 at 10 a.m., in the presence of Emmanuel Macron.
Although the causes of his death have not been confirmed, this great media man had recently experienced health problems. While Actu recalled at the start of the year that the journalist had a sarcoma removed three years ago, BFMTV reported that he had undergone surgery this summer. Since then, those around him told the 24-hour news channel, his health has continued to deteriorate. He was the victim of a fall on Sunday October 1st.
Born on September 29, 1937 in Oran, Algeria, this great media man left his mark on the history of French radio and television. Haïm Jean-Pierre ElKabbach, his full name, made his debut in the 1960s on RTF radio in Oran. He then continued his career in the largest French newsrooms, including France Inter, Europe 1 and Antenne 2. As a political journalist, he interviewed, for almost half a century, numerous political figures and a good number of heads of state.
Recently, after being ousted from Europe 1 in 2016, he made his comeback on CNews in September 2019 with his show called “Sans detours”, broadcast on Sundays at 7 p.m. In 2021, following the takeover of Europe 1 by the Bolloré group, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach returned to the radio to host the major weekend morning interviews. The journalist finally retired in the summer of 2022, wishing in particular to devote himself to his memoirs.
A famous phrase, “shut up Elkabbach”, is now associated with the political journalist who died on October 3, 2023. While many people associate it with a 180 interview on the Antenne 2 channel, with the secretary general of the PCF Georges Marchais, it had, in reality, been imagined by the comedian Thierry Le Luron who then caricatured this interview. This formula was then used by Elkabbach himself for the title of one of his books, released in 1992.
However, Marchais and Elkabbach have already exchanged arms, notably during the legislative elections in 1978 on Europe 1: “Listen to Elkabbach! I think it’s a sufficiently serious evening… If you think that my place is not desirable since the right has won, I’m giving way to the right and going elsewhere. They ask me elsewhere, I can go there. Because it’s extremely unpleasant to discuss with you” The son of the former secretary general, Olivier Marchais, however, assured that they “liked each other a lot. They were perhaps the two best enemies. There was a lot of respect between them.”
