Bernard Pivot, the lover of literature, died this Monday, May 6 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, at the age of 89. Since then, many tributes have been paid to the former presenter ofApostrophes, this cult program from the mid-1970s to the very beginning of the 1990s. Because the writer succeeded in the crazy challenge of making millions of French people read and love literature thanks to his cult show. In addition to his programs – he also presented Culture broth from 1991 to 2001 – Bernard Pivot created very popular spelling championships and dictations.
When he was not in Paris going about his many activities, the journalist went to his house in the heart of the Beaujolais vineyards, located in the small village of Quincié-en-Beaujolais. If he had to sell it in 2023 “for personal reasons”Bernard Pivot spent many wonderful years there, calling it his “corner of paradise”. This large family home, bourgeois style, was the scene of numerous vacations for the literary critic, since he spent the end-of-year holidays and summers there with his family. The large residence is surrounded by a vast garden, but also by vineyards. A wine lover – he co-founded the Committee for the Defense of Beaujolais in 2009 with the gastronomic journalist Périco Légasse – Bernard Pivot felt particularly at home there.
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Bernard Pivot had an astonishing sense of humor
The swimming pool built in the garden reveals a funny anecdote. Indeed, Bernard Pivot had it built in 1974 after being fired from the newspaper Le Figaro, although he had been working there since 1958. It was thanks to his severance pay that the journalist, who revealed that he had been an absent father, was able to add a swimming pool to his property. Dismissed upon the arrival of Jean d’Ormesson as general director, the former president of the Académie Goncourt had chosen to affix a plaque which pays homage, between humor and cynicism, to the former academician: “Piscine Jean d’Ormesson”, it is written, as revealed by the daily Progress. His love for his village was such that Bernard Pivot revealed in 2018, still to the same newspaper, that he wanted to be buried there: “I will come back to Quincié as long as life allows me. Then, I know that a place awaits me in the cemetery in my parents’ grave. I know that I will be buried in Quincié. It is not sad to think about it, I’m not immortal.” The funeral of Bernard Pivot – the date of which is not yet known, will be held in Quincié-en-Beaujolais, the mayor confirmed to Figaro this Tuesday, May 7.
Article written with the collaboration of 6Medias
Photo credits: DOMINIQUE JACOVIDES / BESTIMAGE