The Duhamel–Saint-Cricq family is a French family active in broadcast journalism and regional publishing across three generations. Members have worked at France Télévisions, BFM TV and France Inter, among others, and, through the Saint-Cricq branch, at the regional newspaper group La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, of the youngest generation, served as a government minister. The family's simultaneous presence on rival channels has been described in Marianne as an example of the reproduction of elites in French media.
Background The family relates to the marriage between two popular French journalists, namely Patrice Duhamel and Nathalie Saint-Cricq. The two lines are not blood related to each other. The first, descends from Michel Duhamel, a physician, and his wife Yvonne Bosquet. Their children include the political commentators Alain Duhamel and Patrice Duhamel, the paediatrician Jean-François Duhamel, and Dominique Duhamel, a former human-resources executive at Safran.
The second descends from Jean Meunier (1906–1975), a journalist, Socialist politician and French Resistance member. He was mayor of Tours from 1944 to 1947 and deputy for Indre-et-Loire, and he founded La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest. His daughter Mireille Meunier, a sociologist, married Jacques Saint-Cricq, later president of the newspaper's supervisory board. Their children are the journalist Nathalie Saint-Cricq and Olivier Saint-Cricq, president of the group's executive board. The link between the two families stems from Patrice Duhamel's marriage with Nathalie Saint-Cricq.
Media coverage of the family lineages Amélie Oudéa-Castéra's 2024 cabinet appointment drew press attention to her family ties with journalists Alain Duhamel, Patrice Duhamel and Nathalie Saint-Cricq. In 2026 Nathalie Saint-Cricq declared her family's media connections as a potential conflict of interest before testifying to a parliamentary inquiry (commission parlementaire) into public-broadcasting neutrality.
Several family members appeared on rival channels on the same evening during France's 2026 municipal elections. Le Parisien and Marianne covered the overlap, and Gala later published a guide to who is who in the family.
Family tree
The Duhamel line Michel Duhamel, physician; m. Yvonne Bosquet Alain Duhamel (b. 1940), political journalist and commentator Arnaud Duhamel, business lawyer Jean-François Duhamel, paediatrician Dominique Duhamel, former human-resources executive at Safran; m. Richard Castéra, senior civil servant Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (b. 1978), businesswoman and politician; m. Frédéric Oudéa, chairman of Sanofi Patrice Duhamel (b. 1945), journalist, former deputy director-general of France Télévisions; partner of Nathalie Saint-Cricq (b. 1960), political editorialist at France Télévisions (see Meunier line below ♧) Alexandre Duhamel (b. 1983), operatic baritone, from an earlier relationship Benjamin Duhamel (b. 1994), political journalist, France Inter The Meunier Saint-Cricq line Jean Meunier (1906–1975), journalist and politician; mayor of Tours, 1944–1947; founder of La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest; m. Raymonde Béguet Mireille Meunier, sociologist; m. Jacques Saint-Cricq, president of the supervisory board of La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest Nathalie Saint-Cricq; partner of Patrice Duhamel (see Duhamel line above ♧) Olivier Saint-Cricq, president of the executive board of La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest
Notable members Alain Duhamel, formerly of Le Monde, Europe 1, RTL and BFM TV, is a political commentator. His brother Patrice rose to deputy director-general of France Télévisions and has interviewed eight French presidents. Patrice's partner, Nathalie Saint-Cricq, is the broadcaster's political editorialist and co-hosted the 2017 second-round presidential debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
Among the younger generation: Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, a former professional tennis player and businesswoman, was Minister of Sports from 2022 to 2024 and, briefly, Minister of National Education in early 2024. Benjamin Duhamel, a political journalist, left BFM TV in 2025 to join France Inter's morning programme Le 7/9. Alexandre Duhamel is an operatic baritone who has performed at the Opéra Bastille and the Salzburg Festival.
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