Michèle Léridon, journalist, the first woman to head Agence France Presse, a great friend and connoisseur of Italy and Rome, where she had been a correspondent for a long time, suddenly disappeared yesterday in Paris at the age of 62. For two years, she had been appointed as a member of the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA), which today announced her death. "A woman of deep convictions - wrote the CSA - Michèle Léridon was a great journalist unanimously appreciated", in particular for "her rich experience and great intellectual rigor". His commitment to freedom of expression and information, which inspired his entire career path, is strong and well-known throughout the world.
Graduated from the journalism school of the University of Lyon, Michéle Léridon began her career in the regional press, at La Voix de l'Ain and then in La République du Center Ouest and L'Usine Nouvelle, until 1981. She joined AFP in 1981 and 1989 began to deal with Africa, quickly becoming deputy head of the Abidjan office, in charge of covering 8 West African countries. Conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone followed. He arrived in Rome in 2009 and remained until 2014 as a correspondent, a period in which he perfected his relationship with Italy with direct knowledge and perfect learning of the language. At the end of her Roman experience, she was appointed director of the AFP, the first woman to hold the highest office. He has received many career awards, includingEuropean Alliance of New Agencies (EANA) in 2015. At the end of the prestigious assignment, she was called to be part of the CSA, in charge in particular of the theme of "deontology of programs and political pluralism".