On January 15, 1826, a new newspaper was launched in France. It was called Le Figaro – “satirical, witty and combative” – much like Beaumarchais’ famous barber from whom it took its name. Shaken by the upheavals of history, threatened by successive political regimes, its ownership changed hands. Though at times it was weakened, it always managed to recover. Le Figaro became a daily newspaper, and as the decades passed, it became a powerful and independent publication. It chose its battles, defending Captain Dreyfus, and voluntarily ceasing publication in 1942 only to be reborn in 1944. It introduced a new format by publishing an illustrated interview of General Boulanger in 1889. Photography had recently been invented and Le Figaro embraced it. It would become a key feature of the daily newspaper and later of its magazines.