Portrait of a traveler : Albert Londres

He is the reference in terms of journalism with his writings, often engaged as on the prison of Cayenne or the colonization in Africa, collected in the four corners of the world.

The biography of Albert Londres

Albert Londres was born on November 1, 1884 in Vichy and died in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, on May 16, 1932. Between, he was a passionate reporter-journalist who traveled from one end of the planet to the other.
To discover this rich and intense life, it is here…

Was London the real name of Albert Londres ?

There are names that smell of adventure and travel. Albert Londres’s is one of them, with this name associated with one of the world’s greatest capitals, already synonymous with “elsewhere”.

Except that if London was indeed the real name of the journalist, it has nothing to do with the British city. The family of his father, a modest boilermaker, was of Gascon origin and was called Loundrèswhich means swamps in Gascon, before the name was transformed over the generations into Londrès then London.

Albert Londres’s travels and the penal colony of Cayenne

For the general public, in addition to the prize that bears his name, Albert Londres is especially associated with the penal colony of Cayenne. From this Guyanese reportage, two books will be published: “Au bagne”[In the prison]. and “The Man who escaped”.

In 1923, when he was already well known, Albert Londres went to Guyana, the land of the penal colony. There, he described the living conditions of the convicts and the horrors he saw. After publication, his report did not leave anyone indifferent and provoked reactions from both the public and the authorities. This is how the condition of the convicts will improve (a little) thanks to Albert Londres.

How and where did Albert Londres die?

Albert Londres’s death was like his life : an adventure !
It is in the night of May 15 to 16, 1932 that the liner Georges Philippar returning from China to France experienced a devastating fire on board off the coast of Yemen. This one made about fifty victims among whom Albert Londres.

The great reporter was returning from China where he had conducted a vast investigation that mixed drug trafficking, arms trafficking, politics and espionage. In short, all the ingredients for a theory of arson and assassination of the journalist to take shape. Reality, fiction, conspiracy, no one really knows yet since all of Albert Londres’s reportage notes disappeared like him during this wreck…

What is the Albert-London Prize?

The Albert Londres Prize was created in 1932, the year of the death of the famous writer-reporter, by his daughter and three journalists who were friends of his. In his memory, it is awarded every year on the anniversary of his death, May 16.

This prize, which is divided into three categories, written press, audio-visual and book, rewards the best great French-speaking reporters in each of these categories. Until 1981, the prize was awarded during a Parisian evening, but since then it has been awarded every year in a different city of the world.

Which book(s) by Albert Londres ?

The work of the great reporter that was Albert Londres is, to say the least, consequent with about fifty books and publications, but also rather eclectic in the subjects.

Beyond the famous “To the prison dealing with the prison conditions in Cayenne and which remains his most famous work, Albert Londres wrote many other things. In addition to travelogues and testimonies of the time such as “China in madness “, ” Land of ebony “. or again “The Wandering Jew has arrived we can add other more unexpected subjects like “The convicts of the road or Tour de France, tour of suffering which also met with a certain success in its time.
In short, choice and diversity, especially since there are also several complete biographies of the great reporter.