Léon
Zitrone
Born in Петроград, Россійская Имперія
Ancestors 
Brother of
Irma Zitrone
Husband of
Jacqueline Marguerite Marie Connan
— married
28 May 1949 [location unknown]
[children unknown]
Died
at age 81
in Paris V, Paris, France
Profile last modified
| Created 20 Dec 2020
This page has been accessed 1,296 times.
Biography
Léon Zitrone is Notable.
Léon Zitrone was a Russian-born French journalist and television presenter.
Léon Zitrone was born on 25 November 1914 in Petrograd (St Petersburg) in Russia, the son of Romain Rodolphe Zitrone (born 1889) and Catherine Havkine (born 1891).[1] He has a younger sister, Irma, born in 1918. His family fled communism and Russia and settled in France in 1920. Léon was naturalized French in 1936 at his request (his parents and sister only became French in 1947).[2] He studied chemistry and later journalism at the École Supérieure de Journalisme (ESJ) in Paris.
He started working for the Radiodiffusion Française in 1948, helped by his mastership of Russian, French, English and German and Italian. In 1954 he appeared on television for the first time, commenting images from the Longchamp Racecourse (Zitrone was an avid fan of horse racing and kept doing horseracing commentary during his whole career). He became news presenter in 1959 and kept this function for more than 15 years. He also presented numerous events such as the Tour de France, the Olympic Games (8 times), the Bastille Day military parade (16 times), the Eurovision song contest (4 times), royal weddings and state funerals, imposing his peculiar style - exclamations, laudatory adjectives, pompous comments.[3] He was also popular as host or co-host of comedy game shows: Intervilles (12 seasons), Interneige and Jeux sans Frontières (in 1965 and 1966). He was so representative of French television that General de Gaulle himself admitted that Léon Zitrone was probably more famous than himself.[3] He was also active on the radio, for example as a panelist for Les Grosses Têtes, showcasing his culture and sense of humor.
Léon Zitrone retired officially in 1981 but would come back to present programs when required. He died on 25 November 1995, his 81st birthday, at the Val-de-Grâce hospital in Paris.[4]
He was married to Jacqueline "Laura" Connan from 1949 until his death. They had three children.
Biographie
Léon Zitrone est né le 25 novembre 1914 à Pétrograd. Il est le fils de Romain Rodolphe Zitrone et Catherine Hawkine[5]. Sa soeur cadette, Irma, naît en 1918. La famille fuit la Russie à la Révolution et s'installe en France vers 1920. Léon est naturalisé français le 25 septembre 1936[2] (ses parents et sa soeur ne seront naturalisés que 11 ans plus tard, en 1947). Léon Zitrone étudie la chimie, puis le journalisme à l'École Supérieure de Journalisme (ESJ) de Paris.
Il est embauché à la Radiodiffusion Française en 1948, aidé par ses compétences linguistiques (il parle couramment russe, français, anglais, allemand et italien). Il apparaît pour la première fois à la télévision en 1954, sur des images de l'hippodrome de Longchamp (passionné de chevaux, il continuera de commenter les courses hippiques tout au long de sa carrière). En 1959, il devient présentateur du journal télévisé, un rôle qu'il conserve pendant plus de 15 ans. Mais il est surtout connu comme commentateur de grands évènements comme le Tour de France, les Jeux Olympiques (8 fois), le défilé du 14 Juillet (16 fois), le Coucours Eurovision (4 fois), et surtout les mariages royaux, enterrements de personnalités et investitures où il imprime son style " symphonies d'exclamations et fanfares d'adjectifs laudatifs, pompeux commentaires"[3]. Enfin, il présente les jeux Intervilles pendant 12 saisons, Interneige et Jeux sans Frontières (en 1965 et 1966). Il symbolise, à cette époque, la télévision française au point que le Général de Gaulle dira que Léon Zitrone était probablement plus connu que lui[3]. Il est également actif à la radio, par exemple comme sociétaire des Grosses Têtes où sa culture et son sens de l'humour font merveille.
Léon Zitrone prend officiellement sa retraite de la télévision en 1981 mais y retournera à l'occasion. Il est mort des suites d'une hémorrhagie cérébrale le 25 novembre 1995, jour de son 81ème anniversaire, à l'hôpital du Val-de-Grâce à Paris (5ème arrondissement)[4].
Il a été marié à Jacqueline Connan, dite Laura Zitrone, de 1949 à sa mort. Le couple a eu 3 enfants.
Sources
- ↑ Her name is sometimes seen as "Hawkins" but this is an error. Her real name was Khavkina, also rendered as Havkin or Hawkine in French.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Journal Officiel, décret n°10251-36. Naturalisation: "A l'origine cette personne était de nationalité étrangère, elle est devenue française en bénéficiant d'un décret de NATURALISATION." Filae.com, consulté le 20 dec 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Un Z qui voulait dire Zitrone, nécrologie dans Libération, Odile Benyahia-Kouider, 27 nov 1995, consulté le 29 dec 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Léon Zitrone. Acte 805, Fichier des décès de l'INSEE, consulté le 20 dec 2020 via Filae.com.
- ↑ Sa mère est parfois appelée "Catherine Hawkins". C'est une erreur: son nom russe, transcrit Khavkina ou Havkina, est rendu en Havkine ou Hawkine en français.
- Titres, homologations et services pour faits de résistance: Service historique de la Défense, Vincennes, cote GR 16 P 607705. Léon Zitrone, né le 25/11/1914 à Saint-Pétersbourg (Russie). https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/m005a29121647ca3 [Sans indication d'une participation à un réseau ou un mouvement.]
- Find A Grave: Memorial #37937757, database and images (accessed 27 January 2021), memorial page for Leon “Big Léon” Zitrone (25 Nov 1914–25 Nov 1995), citing Cimetière de Levallois-Perret, Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France ; Maintained by Rik Van Beveren (contributor 46956302) .
See also:
- "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKW5-8KN3 : accessed 27 January 2021), Leon Zitrone, Oklahoma, United States, 28 Nov 1995; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Tulsa World, born-digital text.
- "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5G-9S11 : accessed 27 January 2021), Mr Leon Zitrone, Colorado, United States, 27 Nov 1995; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing , born-digital text.
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We plan on featuring Leon alongside Larry King, the Example Profile of the Week in the Connection Finder on January 27th. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can. A Team member will check on the profile Tuesday and make changes as necessary.
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