'' is one of the leading
French morning daily
Newspaper s. Its editorial line is
Conservative and has generally been supportive of the
Rally For The Republic political party and its successor, the
Union For A Popular Movement . Its circulation was 341,083 in 2004.
The
Paris ian paper was founded as a satirical weekly in
1826 , taking its name and
Motto from ''
Le Mariage De Figaro '', a play by
Pierre Beaumarchais . (The motto, "''Sans la liberté de blâmer, il n'est point d'éloge flatteur''" translates as "Without the freedom to criticise, there is no true praise".) It was published somewhat irregularly until
1854 , when it was taken over by Hippolyte de Villemessant. By
1866 it had gained the greatest circulation of any newspaper in France; its first daily edition, that of
16 November 1866 sold 56,000 copies.
Albert Wolff ,
Émile Zola ,
Alphonse Karr and
Jules Claretie were among the paper's early contributors.
On
March 16 ,
1914 ,
Gaston Calmette , the editor of ''Le Figaro'', was assassinated by
Henriette Caillaux , the wife of a former
Prime Minister Of France after he published a letter that cast serious doubt on her husband's integrity.
By the start of
World War II , ''Le Figaro'' had become France's leading newspaper. After the war it became the voice of the
Upper Middle Class , and continues to maintain a conservative position.
In 1922 ''Le Figaro'' was purchased by perfume millionaire
{Link without Title} , that "newspapers must promulgate healthy ideas", and that "left-wing ideas are not healthy ideas."
