Bernard Pivot

Biography

It is born the May 5th 1935 with Lyon, parents grocers. During the Second world war, his/her father is made prisoner, and his/her mother folds up herself in the family home, with Quincié-in-Beaujolais wine, where Bernard Pivot goes to school.

In 1945, Charles Pivot returns and the family turns over to Lyon. At 10 years, Bernard is put in religious pension; he is discovered a passion for the sport there, which will make “forget” with its Masters his mediocrity in the other matters, except for French and of the history.

High-school pupil then studied in right to Lyon, the Bernard Pivot young person is registered then in Paris with the Training center of the journalists (CFJ). He meets there his future wife, Monique, and vice-major leaves his promotion there.

After a training course with the Progress , in Lyon, it is formed with economic journalism during one year, then integrates the literary Figaro in 1958.

In 1970, it animates a daily chronicle with the semi-comic semi-serious radio, without hesitating to tackle political subjects, which appreciates only moderately the President of the Republic Georges Pompidou.

In 1971, the literary Figaro disappears and Bernard Pivot becomes department head with the Figaro . He resigns in 1974 after a dissension with Jean d' Ormesson. Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber then proposes a project of magazine to him which emerges, one year later, on the creation of the magazine Lire .

Meanwhile, it animates, as from April 1973, Ouvrez the Quotation marks , on the first chain. In 1974, ORTF bursts and Bernard Pivot launches the emission Apostrophes , whose first number is diffused on “Antenna 2” the January 10th 1975. This emission stops in 1990, but Bernard Pivot then creates Culture medium , which at the beginning seeks to be interested in a horizon broader than the only books (mixture of literature, cinema and art). The last emission, in June 2001, is an event in the world of the edition and the media.

It also held some time in the Point an often spiritual chronicle, but whose title could aggravate more than one reader: “Laugh, we will make the remainder”.

Since January 2002 until in December 2005, Bernard Pivot leaves to the meeting from abroad who chose to add the culture and the language Frenchwomen to their original culture. They are portraits men and women who cultivate to them “Double I”. This emission, entitled Double I , is diffused once a month on France 2 Sunday evening.

He is also literary chronicler with the Sunday newspaper (Files available on the site of the JDD).

The October 5th 2004, it is elected with the Académie Goncourt. He is the first not-writer to be elected there, his importance in the world of the Critique arts person explains this exception.

Gold Dictionaries

In 1985, with the linguist Micheline Summoning, it launches the Championnats of France of orthography which become, in 1988 and for four years the Championnats of the world of orthography before becoming the Dicos of gold, again restricted in France.

These annual tests proceed in three phases:

In spring, of the tests of selection is organized in the press, in particular in the magazine Lire , and in certain communities (schools…). These tests are multiple-choice questionnaires;
With the autumn, the prizes winner of the preliminary tests are brought together by area in order to take part in the semi-final (QCM and Dictée);
Then, at the winter, the prizes winner of each category are brought together in a single place for the final.

There exist four categories: school juniors, professional juniors, seniors and seniors amateurs.

The participation in these Dicos of gold is completely free, if it is not the purchase of the obligatory magazine to obtain the questionnaires.

The Gold Dictionaries are completed with the last finale of the January 23rd 2005.

At the end of November 2005 is held finally a super final nonopen to the public because reserved to the winners of all the back issues. Recorded with the Collège de France saturdays November 26th 2005 and diffused on France 3 the following day, it brings together 84 champions (including 23 having made zero fault). The particularly increased difficulty this time made that only 5 champions could glorifier of the 0 fault. The big winner of this final, a computer engineer, is Philippe Loriot (it will point out, with much humor, the practical impossibility for a computer to measure itself with the man in such a exercise, contrary for example to the failures).

One will find all the texts and questionnaires in the work the dictations of Bernard Pivot: the integral appeared with the editions Albin Michel (ISBN 2226143882) accompanied by CD of the five preferred dictations of Bernard Pivot dictated by this last. (The book is currently exhausted.)

Bernard Pivot and James Lipton

The American James Lipton falls, randomly of a zapping, on an emission of a cabled chain where he sees of the French discussing around a good wine. “Ah, says it, there are some who take good time! ”. It automatically looks at the emission, which is subtitled. He discovers that the conversation proceeds with broken sticks, that he known as of the things concerning itself of the unexpected subjects, that the emission has a “bottom”, as opposed to what he saw there until now (where an artist passed on television only to make a promotion its last work, according to him). “Here such as it is necessary to make! ”, he exclaims, and it creates under this inspiration its emission Inside the Actor' S Studio , with the success which makes it famous.

Invariably, at the end of the emission, it subjects its guests to a questionnaire, which is that of the great Bernard Pivot, in Apostrophes and Culture medium (it takes again this ritual expression deliberately each time). This one indeed had imagined small a questionnaire with the manner of Marcel Proust whom it ritually poses also with his guests. James Lipton modified only one question of it: “If God exists, that would you like that he says to you the day of your death? ”, considered to be too brutal for this public and replaced by “If the paradise exists, that would you like that God says to you the day of your death? ”, more acceptable for this same public.

The thing ends up arriving at the ears of Pivot, which looks at one of the emissions of Lipton in its turn and is astonished to note that its work inspires a alter ego on the other side of the Atlantic.

During the preparation of the last of “Culture medium”, it sends a letter to James Lipton - that it forever personally met - beginning with “Expensive friendly - rator”. It invites it to the emission of fence. Lipton accepts with enthusiasm. “Me, to pass to Pivot? ”, he with the French press declares which questions it on the subject, “My heart is likely to stop Net! ”. In fact, it does not occur large-thing between the two organizers: each of both seems there well too much impressed by the other to be really at ease. But this emission is seen like a kind of passage of torch between the two men, as as a culturally historical meeting and symbolic system.

James Lipton currently seeks to make double in English the existing emissions of Apostrophes and Culture medium , the American public hardly liking to read subtitles. The world success of Inside the Actor' S Studio having already attracted curiosity on the name of Pivot on behalf of a public which it forever considering, it is said persuaded that those, considering their quality, could they also like a world public, and to perhaps even create followers.

Anecdotes

the writer Charles Bukowski, drunk died, was thanked in full emission by the guests, exceeded by the sudden demonstrations of intoxication of the author with success; in particular Cavanna, editor association (at the time) of Charlie Hebdo.
One was not used in theory as alcoholic drinks on the plate of Apostrophes, but for the special program devoted to Vladimir Nabokov, Bernard Pivot poured Whiskey in a teapot, by proposing several times during the emission: " Still a little the, Mr Nabokov? ".

Literary works

the Love sails about it , novel, Calmann-Levy, 1959
the life oh there there! , chronicles, Grasset, 1966
literary criticisms , test, Flammarion, 1968
Text of the album Beaujolaises , Oak, 1978
Football in green , delivers on a.S. Saint-Etienne, Hatchet-Gamma, 1980
the trade of reading, answers to Pierre Nora , Gallimard, 1990. Republished and supplemented, Folio, June 2001
Remonstrance with the housewife of less than 50 years , Plon, 1998

See too

External bonds

the 724 emissions of Apostrophes on INA.fr
the dictation of Bernard Pivot and Portraits of the emission “I Double”
At the beginning of career of Bernard Pivot
Cadillac white of Bernard Pivot, a novel of Alain Beaulieu
the questionnaire of Bernard Pivot in video

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