Les Lettres Françaises

Les Lettres Françaises

Categories	Literature
Frequency	Monthly
Founder	ISSN	0024-1393

Les Lettres Françaises (

.

After the

.

History

Lysenkoism

The newspaper frequently served as a reflector of Soviet state propaganda, in late 40's engaging in defense of pseudo-scientific Lysenkoism. Pierre Daix wrote "French scientists recognize superiority of Soviet science" article which was then reprinted in Eastern Bloc newspaper, intending to create an impression that Lysenkoism was already accepted by the whole progressive world.^[1]

Kravchenko case

In 1949, Soviet dissident

). The truth about the origin of these documents were not known until the late 1970s.

Kravchenko filed a complaint for defamation against the newspaper, which was defended by counsel Joe Nordmann. The trial, dubbed "the trial of the century", held in 1949 brought together a hundred witnesses. The Soviet Union presented Kravchenko's former colleagues and his former wife to denounce him. Kravchenko's legal team enlisted testimonies from the survivors of Soviet prison camps. Among them was Gulag survivor

.

Disappearance and reemergence

Les Lettres Françaises was edited by Aragon between 1953 and 1972. During this interval, it supported

. The latter decision proved problematic, as the Soviet government decided to withdraw its subsidies, as did the French Communist Party. Consequently, the review was stripped of its financial lifeline and eventually ceased publication.

Since the 1990s, the literary magazine is published on the first Saturday of each month, with the newspaper L'Humanité. It has columns on Letters, Arts, Cinema, Theater and Music, and publishes the works of debuting prose writers and poets. Its new head editor is Jean Ristat.

References

External links

• LesLettresFrançaises.fr site officiel