{{short description|French newspaper started by Victor Hugo's sons}} {{Use British English|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Le Rappel | image = Le Rappel Newspaper.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_alt = Front page of ''Le Rappel'' | type = Daily newspaper | format = Broadsheet | founder = {{ubl|Charles Hugo|François-Victor Hugo|Auguste Vacquerie|Paul Meurice|Henri Rochefort}} | political_position = Republicanism | founded = {{start date|1869|05|04|df=yes}} | ceased_publication = {{end date|1933|df=yes}} | headquarters = Paris | publishing_country = France | language = French }} '''''Le Rappel''''' (French for "the Recall") was a French daily newspaper founded in 1869 by Charles and François-Victor Hugo, sons of Victor Hugo, along with Auguste Vacquerie, Paul Meurice, and Henri Rochefort. It was published from the final years of the Second French Empire through the early decades of the French Third Republic, ceasing in 1933.<ref name="Barnett2009" />
At the dawn of the Third Republic, the paper became a prominent voice of radical republicanism and was frequently criticised by the authorities for its uncompromising editorial line.<ref name="Hugo2019" />
== Publication history == Le Rappel was launched on 4 May 1869, following the passage of the 11 May 1868 law that eased press restrictions in the waning years of the Second Empire.<ref name="Josephson2006" /> The newspaper was founded at the initiative of Victor Hugo, ahead of the general elections of 1869. Its creation reflected his desire to support republican ideals and provide a platform for radical political thought. The founding editors were Hugo's sons, Charles and François-Victor Hugo, along with Auguste Vacquerie, Paul Meurice, and Henri Rochefort.<ref name="Hugo2019" />
Victor Hugo contributed directly to the first issue by writing a manifesto addressed to the five co-editors. In it, he described the paper as a moral summons to action and principle:
{{Blockquote|text=It is a call. I love the word in every sense. It is the call to principle by conscience; the call to truth by philosophy; the call to duty by right; the call to the dead by reverence; the call to punishment by equity; the call to the past by history; the call to the future by logic; the call to action by courage; the call to idealism by thought; the call to science by experiment; the call to God in religion by the extirpation of idolatry; the call to the people's sovereignty by universal suffrage; the call to humanity by free education; the call to liberty by the awakening of France and by the stirring cry Fiat Jus!|author=Victor Hugo|source=<ref name="Barbou Frewer 1882 pp. 321-322" />}}
[[File:Victor Hugo's Les Misérables in Le Rappel newspaper.jpg|thumb|Victor Hugo's ''Les Misérables'' serialised in ''Le Rappel''|alt=|260x260px]]
== Impact and influence == During the early years of the French Third Republic, Le Rappel emerged as one of the leading voices of radical republicanism. It was notable for its opposition to authoritarianism, particularly under Napoleon III, and for its outspoken stance on human rights abuses occurring across Europe. Its editorial line frequently drew criticism from the government for its uncompromising political engagement.<ref name="Hugo2019" />
On 29 August 1876, Victor Hugo used Le Rappel to publish a powerful editorial titled {{lang|fr|Pour la Serbie}} ("For Serbia"), in which he condemned the massacres of Serbian civilians by the Ottoman Empire. The article served as both a humanitarian appeal and a political denunciation of European inaction in the face of the atrocities.<ref name="Stein2007" />
In another notable intervention, following the anti-Jewish pogrom in the Russian city of Yelisavetgrad on 27 April 1881, Hugo once again turned to Le Rappel to express his outrage. His editorial denounced the violence and the indifference of European powers, offering one of the earliest condemnations of such acts in the French press.<ref name="Halsall 1998 p. 233" />
== Notable contributors == Notable contributors have included: {{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 600px;| * Arthur Arnould<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Ernest Blum<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Philippe Burty * Albert Dalimier<ref name="Rappel071026" /> * Georges Desplas<ref name="Rappel071026" /> * Alfred Gaulier * Charles Hugo * François-Victor Hugo * Édouard Laferrière<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Édouard Lockroy<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Henry Maret<ref name="Maret1904" /> * Adolphe Messimy<ref name="Rappel071026" /> * Paul Meurice<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Camille Pelletan * Louis Puech<ref name="Rappel071026" /> * Félix Pyat * Henri Rochefort<ref name="Avenel573" /> * Théodore Steeg<ref name="Rappel071026" /> * Auguste Vacquerie<ref name="Avenel573" /> }}
== References == <references>
<ref name="Barnett2009">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3gtdwFQ3kgsC&pg=PA374|title=Victor Hugo on Things That Matter: A Reader|author=Marva A. Barnett|date=29 September 2009|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-16105-2|page=374}}</ref> <ref name="Hugo2019">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNOSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT74|title=Novels, Plays, Poetry, Essays, Memoirs & Letters|author=Victor Hugo|date=14 March 2019|publisher=e-artnow|isbn=978-80-273-0372-4|page=74}}</ref> <ref name="Josephson2006">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiP_ezL6v54C&pg=PA462|title=Victor Hugo: A Realistic Biography of the Great Romantic|author=Matthew Josephson|publisher=Jorge Pinto Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-9742615-7-7|page=462}}</ref> <ref name="Barbou Frewer 1882 pp. 321-322">{{cite book | last1=Barbou | first1=A. | last2=Frewer | first2=E.E. | title=Victor Hugo and His Time | publisher=Harper & Brothers | year=1882 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsAaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR12 | page=122}}</ref> <ref name="Stein2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxcbAQAAIAAJ|title=Victor Hugo orateur politique, 1846–1880|author=Marieke Stein|publisher=Champion|year=2007|isbn=978-2-7453-1448-2|language=fr}}</ref> <ref name="Halsall 1998 p. 233">{{cite book | last=Halsall | first=A.W. | title=Victor Hugo and the Romantic Drama | publisher=University of Toronto Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-8020-4322-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CTyPQqvgHnUC&pg=PA233 | page=233}}</ref> <ref name="Avenel573">{{cite book | last=Avenel | first=H. | title=Histoire de la Presse Française Depuis 1789 Jusqu'à Nos Jours | publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-274-39999-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-oTBugEACAAJ | language=fr | page=573}}</ref> <ref name="Rappel071026">''Le Rappel'', 26 octobre 1907, p. 1.</ref> <ref name="Maret1904">''Le Rappel'', 16 juin 1904, p. 1.</ref>
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== External links == * [https://gallica.bnf.fr/services/engine/search/sru?operation=searchRetrieve&version=1.2&startRecord=0&maximumRecords=50&page=1&collapsing=disabled&query=%28gallica%20all%20%22le%20rappel%22%29%20and%20arkPress%20all%20%22cb328479063_date%22 Digitised issues of ''Le Rappel''] at the BnF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappel, Le}} Category:1869 establishments in France Category:1933 disestablishments in France Category:Defunct newspapers published in France Category:Victor Hugo Category:Newspapers published in Paris Category:Newspapers established in 1869 Category:Newspapers disestablished in 1933 Category:Daily newspapers published in France Category:Defunct daily newspapers