Paying tribute to Marie Claire’s dynamic founder, Évelyne Prouvost

The woman behind Marie Claire has died at the age of 78

Tributes are being paid to Évelyne Prouvost-Berry, the founder of modern Marie Claire, who died last week at the age of 78.

Évelyne Prouvost-Berry was the former CEO and owner of the Marie Claire group. Prouvost's grandfather, French businessman and media mogul Jean Prouvost, first launched Marie Claire magazine in 1937, but its print run was cut short by the Second World War. It was Prouvost who re-founded Marie Claire in 1976, building around it the Marie Claire group that now includes 30 magazines across the globe, from Spain to Malaysia.

Marie Claire's editor-in-chief Trish Halpin remembers the first time she met Prouvost in Paris:

'I first met Évelyne nine years ago during the interview process for the editorship of Marie Claire. I had to take a train to Paris on a dreary and wet winter's day and met her at her apartment on the Rue Saint-Honoré, right in the heart of the city. Of course I was nervous while I waited for her in a room filled with beautiful furniture, plants and books, but when she entered she made me feel so welcome and got down to business straight away, asking my thoughts and opinions on all manner of subjects from fashion to women's rights and even sex. I must have passed the test as I landed the job and have been inspired ever since by her astute journalistic instincts as well as her support for her editors.'

A 'grande-dame' of French publishing and an inspirational figure in the magazine industry, Évelyne Prouvost's sudden death from a bicycle accident in Brittany has been met with shock and sadness from Marie Claire editors around the world, who will remember her as the pioneer of Marie Claire's agenda-pushing journalism and strong feminist values.