Woman of letters, journalist for 35 years at Le Monde, she died at her home in Paris on the night of Monday to Tuesday, her family told AFP.

For many viewers, she embodied the unworthy granny, falsely ingenue, who imposed her sense of burlesque and her good words on the sets.

"Claude Sarraute knew how to be a free woman, an independent journalist and marry the seriousness of the newspaper Le Monde to the fantasy of the Big Heads. She was a friend as we wish for everyone. Everything amused her and she was curious about everything. Until her last days, she was a journalist even observing her end of life. Journalist of herself, until the end, "greeted Laurent Ruquier, in a statement sent to AFP.

He will be the guest of RTL Midi and will host from 15:30 a special program of "Big Heads", in tribute to his friend.

Claude Sarraute and Laurent Ruquier on the set of the "Grand Journal" of Canal+, November 17, 2009 in Paris © Thomas COEX / AFP / Archives

Born on July 24, 1927 in Paris, Claude Sarraute was the eldest daughter of one of the great writers of the 20th century, Nathalie Sarraute, and the lawyer Raymond Sarraute. She was married to philosopher, essayist and journalist, Jean-François Revel, who died in 2006.

Light, laughing, nonconformist, capable of witty traits and also of claw strokes, Claude Sarraute has written several novels ("Allô, Lolotte, c'est Coco", "Ah! love, always love", "Sarraute, the girl of the year", "Daddy who?", "Say, do you love me?", "Say see, Maminette..." or "Belle belle belle"...), which she mischievously described as "clowning".

- Against 'anti-old racism' -

Journalist at the daily Le Monde from 1952, where she remained 35 years in the section "Spectacles" then "Television", she won a great success with an insolent daily post "Sur le vif", published from 1983 to 1992.

"Her famous post, which she wanted that of a +pipelette+, where she gladly spoke of her +Mimi+ – François Mitterrand – or her +Jacquot+ – Jacques Chirac – which did not always appreciate her words, detonated in a newspaper proud of her austere reputation," reports the daily Tuesday in the obituary of the author.

Claude Sarraute on the set of the Antenne 2 show "C'est encore mieux l'après-midi", presented by Christophe Dechavanne, March 19, 1987 in Paris © Georges BENDRIHEM / AFP / Archives

Member of the team of "Big heads" on RTL around Philippe Bouvard from 1985 to 1995, she joined "La bande à Ruquier" in the 90s. Great friend of the host, she continues with him when he takes over "Les grosses têtes" in 2014.

"I have a lot of wrinkles but it's not a problem" to go on TV, she said, saying she fights "against youthism and anti-old racism".

The columnist was also a member of the honorary committee of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD), which defends the freedom of everyone to choose the conditions of their own end of life.

"Our association has lost a fervent activist for the right to die with dignity. We lose a friend. Moved thought to all his loved ones ...", reacted on Twitter the association.

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