J.J. Servan-Schreiber, 82; co-founded the French newsmagazine L’Express

Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, 82, who co-founded the French newsweekly L’Express and encouraged Europe to emulate the United States, died Tuesday of complications from bronchitis in Fecamp in northwest France.

After working as an international affairs reporter at Le Monde daily, Servan-Schreiber co-founded L’Express in 1953 with journalist Francoise Giroud. It began as a weekly supplement in Les Echos, a financial newspaper founded and run by Servan-Schreiber’s father, Emile, and his uncle, Robert.

L’Express soon evolved into a newsmagazine, propelled early on by its support of France’s pullout from its colonies.

Servan-Schreiber was also known during the Cold War for his support of the United States and a free-market economy. He put John F. Kennedy on the cover in the 1950s, long before he became president, and he traveled to meet with Kennedy while he was in office, his son said.

In 1967, Servan-Schreiber published the popular essay “The American Challenge,” which detailed the mechanisms of an economic power struggle brewing between Europe and the United States.

Servan-Schreiber sold L’Express in 1977 and wrote “The World Challenge” in 1980 as a sequel to his essay. The book highlights innovative studies in technology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he lived with his family from 1984 to 1995.