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Published on 28 January 2021 by Thomas Caveng

“Mes mille et une vies”, André Soulier

We are pleased to announce the upcoming release of the book authored by our founding partner André Soulier entitled “Mes mille et une vies” (my thousand and one lives) published by Cherche Midi.

Tracing the career of André Soulier means revisiting sixty years of French judicial and political history.

Member of the Lyon Bar, considered by his peers as one of the best criminal lawyers in the country, André Soulier discusses in that book some of the cases he handled: that of Jean-Marie Deveaux in 1963 and 1969, which led to the adoption of an Act providing for the indemnification of people wrongly sentenced to jail; that of the victims of the fires at the Feyzin refinery in 1970 and at the 5-7 discotheque in 1972; and that of Cardinal Barbarin in 2019.

At the same time, André Soulier was fully involved in political life, first with Pierre Mendes France and then with François Mitterrand. At the Lyon City Hall, he was deputy to Francisque Collomb, and later to Raymond Barre. He was also a member of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council and of the European Parliament.

To these commitments, André Soulier added another one: that of a soccer lover who chaired the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee of the French National Soccer League and then the Legal Committee of the current Professional Soccer League.

From these intertwined lives, André Soulier forms a story that is both intimate and emblematic, with that taste for words and advocacy that makes great lawyers.

This book will be available as of February 4 in most bookstores and online platforms such as Decitre,, la Fnac, Cultura or Lisez!.

1971, Congress of Épinay. François Mitterrand gives his instructions to André Soulier for a talk which, after reflection, was given by Jean-Pierre Chevènement. In the photo, in the background, Claude Estier and Georges Dayan, faithful among the faithful, partly hidden behind François Mitterrand.
On October 4, 1986, André Soulier, first deputy mayor of Lyon, met Pope John Paul II at the Rhône prefecture. After the blessing of the city by the Holy Father, a great concert was given by Jean-Michel Jarre.
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Paul Bocuse and André Soulier during the dispute with McDonald’s in 1992. Paul Bocuse brought an action against the fast-food giant, accusing it of misusing its name and damaging its reputation. At that time, McDonald’s was using as part of an advertising campaign in the Netherlands a misappropriated photo of the chef in the kitchen of the Auberge de Collonges.
In February 2001, at the Lyon City Hall during a working meeting on the Green Cross founded by Mikhail Gorbachev. From right to left: Raymond Barre, Mayor of Lyon, Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, former leader of the USSR from 1985 to 1991, and André Soulier, then “Minister” of Foreign Affairs of the City of Lyon.

Thomas Caveng

Legal Translator / Marketing Director

All publications by Thomas Caveng