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| Claude Moliterni | |
|---|---|
| Name | Claude Moliterni |
| Birth date | 1920s |
| Death date | 2003 |
| Occupation | Comics critic, journalist, editor, festival organizer, screenwriter |
| Known for | Promotion of bande dessinée, co-founding Angoulême International Comics Festival |
Claude Moliterni Claude Moliterni was a French comics historian, critic, journalist, editor and promoter who played a central role in postwar bande dessinée culture, festival organization and publishing. He was a co-founder of the Angoulême International Comics Festival and worked across publishing, film and festival circuits to elevate comics as an art form alongside figures from European and American comics scenes. His activities connected French institutions, international creators and cultural bodies engaged with graphic storytelling.
Moliterni was born in France and pursued studies that connected him to Parisian cultural networks including Sorbonne University, École des Beaux-Arts, and circles around the Cahiers du Cinéma and Gallimard publishing. Early influences included exposure to creators associated with Tintin, Spirou, Métal Hurlant and the postwar revival led by personalities such as Hergé, André Franquin, Marcel Gotlib and critics tied to Le Monde and Paris Match. His formative encounters also intersected with institutions like the Bibliothèque nationale de France and salons frequented by contributors to Pilote and the Comité National de la Bande Dessinée.
Moliterni forged a career as a journalist and critic writing for outlets such as Pilote (magazine), L'Écho des Savanes, Le Monde, Paris Match, Cahiers du Cinéma and various publishers including Casterman and Dargaud. He edited and contributed to anthologies and critical studies that placed creators like Jean Giraud, Moebius, René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, Jacques Tardi, Will Eisner, Hugo Pratt and Enki Bilal in scholarly and popular contexts. Moliterni worked with institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and the Ministry of Culture (France) to legitimize comics in exhibitions and catalogues, dialoguing with curators connected to Musée d'Orsay and academic programs at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
As a co-founder and driving force of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Moliterni collaborated with municipal authorities of Angoulême, cultural figures from Centre-Val de Loire, and international guests including delegates from Comics Art Convention, San Diego Comic-Con, Lucca Comics & Games and the Eisner Awards community. He helped establish prizes that highlighted auteurs like Corto Maltese creator Hugo Pratt and modern innovators associated with Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman and Bill Sienkiewicz. Moliterni organized panels, retrospectives and exhibitions drawing exhibitors from Dargaud, Dupuis, Casterman and emerging independent publishers, fostering exchanges with curators from British Library programs and organizers of the Small Press Expo.
Moliterni collaborated on screenplays, adaptations and editorial projects with creators across Europe and North America, intersecting with filmmakers and writers linked to François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Luc Besson and comic scenarists affiliated with Pilote, Métal Hurlant and Heavy Metal (magazine). He worked with artists and editors such as Jean-Marc Lofficier, Philippe Druillet, Moebius, Enki Bilal, Jacques Lob and translators active in bringing Will Eisner and Robert Crumb to French audiences. Projects included collaborations with publishing houses like Les Humanoïdes Associés, Glénat, Futuropolis and partnerships with cultural festivals such as Festival de Cannes for comic-related programming.
Moliterni's personal archives and correspondence connected him to a network of creators, publishers and institutions including the Angoulême municipal archives, collectors associated with Fonds Franquin and scholars at Université de Liège. His legacy is remembered in retrospectives and obituaries that situate him among figures who professionalized comic studies alongside contemporaries like Georges Wolinski, Christophe Blain, Thierry Groensteen and Pierre Sterckx. The structures he helped create at Angoulême International Comics Festival and in publishing persist in contemporary dialogues involving European Comics Awards, academic programs at Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis and international exhibitions at venues such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.
Category:French comics critics Category:Angoulême International Comics Festival people