Bertin

Bertin, a family of distinction in the history of French journalism. The most important member of the family, generally regarded as the father of modern French journalism, Louis François Bertin (1766-1841), known as Bertin aîné, was born in Paris on the 14th of December 1766. He began his journalistic career by writing for the Journal Français and other papers during the French Revolution. After the 18th Brumaire he founded the paper, with which the name of his family has chiefly been connected, the Journal des Débats. He was suspected of royalist tendencies by the consulate and was exiled in 1801. He returned to Paris in 1804 and resumed the management of the paper, the title of which had been changed by order of Napoleon to that of Journal de l’Empire. Bertin had to submit to a rigorous censorship, and in 1811 the conduct, together with the profits, was taken over entirely by the government. In 1814 he regained possession and restored the old title and continued his support of the royalist cause—during the Hundred Days; he directed the Moniteur de Gand—till 1823, when the Journal des Débats became the recognized organ of the constitutional opposition. Bertin’s support was, however, given to the July monarchy after 1830. He died on the 13th of September 1841. Louis François Bertin de Vaux (1771-1842), the younger brother of Bertin aîné, took a leading part in the conduct of the Journal des Débats, to the success of which his powers of writing greatly contributed. He entered the chamber of deputies in 1815, was made councillor of state in 1827, and a peer of France in 1830. The two sons of Bertin aîné, Edouard François (1797-1871) and Louis Marie François (1801-1854), were directors in succession of the Journal des Débats. Edouard Bertin was also a painter of some distinction.