The designer, based in Loiret in Givraines since 1974, maintained numerous links with the region. Those who knew her pay tribute to her.
After the announcement of the death of Bernadette Després, designer in particular of Tom-Tom and Nanapersonalities from Loiret and the cultural world react, highlighting her contribution to the world of children’s literature, her generosity and the links she had forged around Givraines, where she had lived since 1974.
Jean Anguera, sculptormember of the Academy of Fine Arts, resident of Givraines, met her in 1983 during an exhibition in Pithiviers. He says he is “very moved”: “She was a very dear friend, as well as her husband (Denis Charignon, died in 2017).
“They were a couple who had a joy of life, a fantasy, an open-mindedness like you rarely encounter. Bernadette checked in on everyone, she was an amazing, generous woman.”
She always said ‘I was very lucky, how many people get into comics and can’t make a living from it’. It pains me a lot that the album of his life is closing.”
The sculptor also made the stele under which Denis Charignon rests in the Yèvre-le-Châtel cemetery, and will soon rest Bernadette Després. He says: “It was in 1988, we had a car, the mechanic told us “we have to change it, it’s over”. Denis was passing by and told us “I’m buying you a new car, in return , I just bought a plot at the cemetery, I would like you to make a sculpture”.
Patrick Guérinet, mayor of Givraines since 1995 : “I have a thought for her four children. Since her arrival in the town, she was very close to the schools, she always accompanied us, with her pencil, for meals and meetings. She was a discreet, appreciated person of all, we loved her company. The children from school regularly went to her house. When we said ‘Bernadette’, we didn’t need to specify that it was Bernadette Després.
Julien Pagèsdirector since September 2024 of the Bernadette-Després school in Puiseaux: “I worked for 16 years at the Ondreville-sur-Essonne school, we carried out several projects with her and her husband. We are one of the first schools to visit her house Tom-Tom and Nana She was someone very close to everyone she met, with remarkable poetry in everything she did.
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Well before the announcement of his death, several projects were underway at the Bernadette-Després school, notably the creation of murals based on drawings by Bernadette Després, exhibitions… He intends to “bring his work to life” .
Monique Bévièreelected in Pithiviers and community councilor, who presented her with her Legion of Honor in 2021 in Givraines: “I have grandchildren, now grown up, who had the pleasure of reading these albums. She was a very cheerful, who exuded the joy of living, certainly a little original, but that was part of the character. She was unpredictable, always cheerful, she said what she thought.”
In 2023, a new children’s book with drawings by Bernadette Després, the mother of Tom-Tom and Nana
Arnaud Parent, co-founder of the Théâtre des Minuits troupe, in La Neuville-sur-Essonne: “I am very moved, very sad, knowing that we will no longer see her, no longer hear her very special voice… She was an artist major, certainly not an artist of a minor art. She profoundly evolved children’s literature. We saw her regularly at the Théâtre des Minuits. I didn’t read her albums in my childhood. Tintinbut then I discovered this. And I got to know her, as well as Denis, her husband.”
Gilles Heccanpresident of the Bulles en Val festival in Saint-Denis-en-Val: “I will keep the memory of a sparkling little lady. At the festival, we welcomed her eleven times, the last of which was in February of this year. Tired, she was only able to come for one day. I remember that she had a continuous crowd, an intergenerational audience, she left her mark on generations of readers who learned to read with her. Tom-Tom and Nana. She leaves many people orphaned. It is certain that we will pay tribute to him during the next edition of our festival on March 1 and 2, 2025.”
Sophie Todescatobookseller Les Temps Modernes in Orléans: “I’m really sad, very upset, incredulous because, really, imagining that Bernadette Després could die is like imagining that the heroes she drew could die, it It’s impossible. Tom-Tom and Nana are like Babar or all these heroes that different generations of readers have had, they are immortal: they made us laugh, they taught us lots of things, apparently. nothing for so long… Bernadette Després, we received her countless times at the bookstore. She was an excellent illustrator, a talented portraitist, incredibly modest.
Every meeting, it was always crazy. Despite the years that passed, we saw the transmission from generation to generation, Tom-Tom and Nana, it is a universal language, an image of universal childhood.
For me, Bernadette Desprès is inseparable from the memory of her husband (Denis Charignon, died in 2017) who accompanied her because she did not drive: they surveyed the territory like book activists, reading for children, popular education. Sometimes they sang and the people waiting for the signings sang the songs in chorus. It was incredible stuff, with a lot of simplicity and enthusiasm…
And then Bernadette Després, it’s not just Tom-Tom and Nana, she would have liked the rest of the albums she was able to make to be recognized too, albums which have not been reissued.” And the bookseller of quote My Little School, My Kindergarten on a walk… “Books which when they appeared were already classics and which could remain so…
What will remain with me is joyful fantasy and modest generosity.”
Catherine Soixpresident of the ÉcrilOire association in Orléans: “We received her for our aperitif-book for the month of April. She came with her daughter. I remember a sparkling little lady with a lot of humor. I reminds me of a very happy moment where we laughed a lot; there were a lot of people, a sign of his long and interesting career.”
The Minister of Culture, Rachida Datahailed “a great lady of children’s literature”.
The Loiret Department also paid tribute to the artist on social networks:
Dimitri Crozet and Julie Poulet-Sevestre
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