A book in one hand, his pair of glasses in the other: the image of the presenter of the most popular literature program will remain engraved in the memory. Bernard Pivot, writer and creator of “Apostrophes”, died this Monday in Neuilly-sur-Seine at the age of 89, his daughter, Cécile Pivot, announced to AFP. Bernard Pivot also presented the show “Bouillon de culture” and organized the Dicos d’or from 1985, a spelling championship that quickly became international. Joining the Goncourt Academy in 2004, he became its president in 2014 and withdrew at the end of 2019.
Best-known literary journalist in France
The man, who ended up being better known to the general public than many of the writers he interviewed or won with the Goncourt, presented “Apostrophes” for fifteen years, from 1975 to 1990, bringing together millions of viewers. The show he hosted live after Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was unbeatable on Friday evenings. We laughed there, we competed in wit, we smoked, we insulted each other… Sagan, Barthes, Nabokov, Bourdieu, Umberto Eco, Le Clézio, Modiano, Levi-Strauss and even President Mitterrand were invited there.
In 1987, Bernard Pivot even clandestinely interviewed Lech Walesa in Poland. Facetious and meticulous reader, he subjected his guests to “Pivot questionnaire”inspired by that of Proust.
Bernard PIVOT: “My incredible memories of Apostrophes”
Pointed out for having shown complacency towards the writer Gabriel Matzneff, accused of rape and sexual assault of minors, Bernard Pivot estimated in 2020 that“today, morality comes before literature. Morally, this is progress.” The popularity of the literary journalist, who had nearly a million subscribers on X (formerly Twitter), did not seem to have been affected by this controversy.
When “Apostrophes” stopped, he created “Bouillon de culture”, still on public service, with a broader horizon than books. Born in Lyon on May 5, 1935, Bernard Pivot was also known to be a enlightened wine lover and football fanin particular from AS Saint-Etienne.
