Madeleine Chapsal is the daughter of the politician Fernand Chapsal and of the Vionnet dressmaker Marcelle Chaumont.
She married the French journalist Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber in 1947. Together, they founded L'Express. They divorced in 1960, but remained friends.
She was a member of the Prix Femina jury between 1981 and 2006.
Il ne s'agit pas de Conversations impudiques mais de David en hommage a David Servan-Schreiber. Hommage a DSS tres court mais que j'ai trouve tres touchant