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Jean Zay, founding father of the CNRS et Cannes Film Festival

Founding father of the CNRS and a key figure in the Popular Front, Jean Zay was also the creator of the Cannes Film Festival. Portrait of a great statesman.

Jean Zay (Archives nationales, fonds Jean Zay)

Jean Zay at his desk (circa 1936-1939).

Denis Guthleben, Scientific Attaché to the CNRS History Committee, paints a moving portrait of Jean Zay, evoking his ideals and his role in the creation of two major institutions, the CNRS and the Cannes Film Festival.

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Photo Agence Meurisse / source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF

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Jean Zay est connu comme étant l'un des pères fondateurs du CNRS. Mais pas seulement ! Dans l'entre-deux guerre, alors Ministre de l'Education Nationale et des Beaux-Arts, il décide de créer le Festival de Cannes pour tenter de contrer la montée du fascisme en Europe. Denis Guthleben, attaché scientifique au Comité pour l'Histoire du CNRS, retrace un portrait émouvant de Jean Zay, en évoquant ses idéaux et son rôle dans la création de ces deux institutions majeures que sont le CNRS et le…

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