Manon Quérouil has never been afraid of the unknown. Having passed her baccalaureate exams with flying colours in Rouen, she embarked on an intensive university foundation course in the prestigious Lycée Henri IV without ever having set foot in Paris before. "It was hard", she recalls. After two years of studying, she decided to travel overland from India to France. Arriving in Iran was a new shock to the system, but she discovered "a fantastic country with wonderful people, an extraordinary breath of fresh air." On her return to Paris, she enrolled in the Oriental Languages faculty to learn Persian and completed a research degree on the Islamic veil, driven by the aim of returning to Iran as quickly as possible to continue her studies. The country’s allure was still strong when, at the age of 22, she moved by herself to Teheran. Today, she remembers having "toughed it out", launching herself into journalism at the AFP and contributing to Paris Match when the company asked her to research the status of information access in Afghanistan. Moving with ease through the country’s most remote villages, she followed the afghan experience, covering the 2005 elections for the UN before being sent by the organisation to Sri-Lanka. On her return to Paris, she worked in communications at UNESCO but missed being at the heart of the action. It was then that friend and photographer, Véronique de Viguerie, asked her to accompany her on a news feature in Lebanon. So began a new life as a special correspondent for leading French magazines, Géo, Le Nouvel Observateur and Le Figaro Magazine. "My life has always been marked by life-changing encounters", she says. And by an unshakeable determination, particularly to show the new face of Iran. 


Age: 27  I Passions: Japanese literature, girls’ nights out, Roland-Garros, fesen djoun (nut-based Iranian ragout) I Philosophy in life: Be free and responsible I Goals: To join the editorial team of a newspaper or magazine and cover major international stories I Favourite newspapers/magazines: Le Nouvel Observateur, Marie-Claire, Le Monde, Paris-Match and Courrier International.