Editing Bernard Pivot

{{Short description|French journalist (1935–2024)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox person
| name           = Bernard Pivot
| image          = Bernard Pivot 1986.png
| caption        = Pivot in 1986
| birth_name     = Bernard Claude Pivot
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1935|5|5|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Lyon]], France
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2024|5|6|1935|5|5|df=y}}
| death_place    = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], France
| occupation     = Journalist, television personality
| known for      = TV host ''[[Apostrophes (talk show)|Apostrophes]]'' and ''[[Bouillon de culture]]''
| education      = [[Collège-lycée Ampère|Lycée Ampère]]
| alma_mater     = [[University of Lyon]]<br>[[Centre de formation des journalistes]]
}}

'''Bernard Pivot''' ({{IPA|fr|bɛʁnaʁ pivo|lang}}; 5 May 1935 – 6 May 2024) was a French journalist, interviewer and host of cultural television programmes. He was chairman of the [[Académie Goncourt]] from 2014 to 2020.<ref>[http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/livre/bernard-pivot-president-de-l-academie-du-goncourt-le-destin-ne-se-refuse-pas_1312496.html Bernard Pivot président de l'Académie Goncourt: "Le destin ne se refuse pas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309084025/http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/livre/bernard-pivot-president-de-l-academie-du-goncourt-le-destin-ne-se-refuse-pas_1312496.html |date=9 March 2014 }}, L'Express.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=A la tête de l'Académie|url=https://www.academiegoncourt.com/presidents-academie|access-date=2022-02-19|website=Académie Goncourt|language=fr|archive-date=19 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219191726/https://www.academiegoncourt.com/presidents-academie|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Nossiter, Adam |title= Bernard Pivot, Host of Influential French TV Show on Books, Dies at 89: For 15 years, French viewers watched Mr. Pivot on his weekly show, "Apostrophes," to decide what to read next |journal= The New York Times |date= May 9, 2024 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/world/europe/bernard-pivot-dead.html |accessdate= 29 July 2024}}</ref>

==Biography==
Pivot was born in [[Lyon]] on 5 May 1935,{{cn|date=May 2024}} the son of two grocers. During [[World War II]] his father, Charles Pivot, was taken prisoner and his mother moved the family home to the village of [[Quincié-en-Beaujolais]], where Bernard Pivot started school. In 1945 his father was released and the reunited family returned to Lyon. At age 10 Pivot went to a Catholic boarding school where he discovered a passion for sport, while he was more average at traditional school subjects, except French and history.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

After starting law studies in Lyon Pivot entered the [[Centre de formation des journalistes]] (CFJ) in Paris, where he met his future wife, Monique.{{cn|date=May 2024}} He graduated second in his class. After an internship at ''[[Le Progrès]]'' in Lyon, he studied economic journalism for a full year, and then joined the ''[[Le Figaro|Figaro]] Littéraire'' in 1958.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

In 1970 he hosted a humorous daily radio programme . In 1971 the ''Figaro Littéraire'' closed and Pivot joined ''[[Le Figaro]]''. He left in 1974 after a disagreement with [[Jean d'Ormesson]]. [[Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber]] invited him to start a new project, which led to the creation of a new magazine, ''[[Lire (magazine)|Lire]]'', a year later. Meanwhile, he had begun hosting a television programme in April 1973 called ''{{ill|Ouvrez les guillemets|fr}}'' on the [[TF1|First Channel of the ORTF]]. In 1974, the [[ORTF]] was dissolved and Pivot started his ''[[Apostrophes (talk show)|Apostrophes]]'' programme. ''Apostrophes'' was first broadcast on [[Antenne 2]] on 10 January 1975, and ran until 1990.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/23/style/chronicle-842990.html Chronicle by Susan Heller Anderson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727212459/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/23/style/chronicle-842990.html |date=27 July 2018 }}, ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/05/books/french-tv-show-on-books-is-ending.html French TV Show on Books Is Ending] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220144936/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/05/books/french-tv-show-on-books-is-ending.html |date=20 December 2017 }}, ''The New York Times''.</ref> Pivot then created ''[[Bouillon de culture]]'', with the aim of broadening people's interests beyond reading. However, he eventually returned to books.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/18/arts/arts-abroad-adopting-a-country-then-crashing-its-best-seller-list.html ARTS ABROAD; Adopting a Country, Then Crashing Its Best-Seller List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527165238/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/18/arts/arts-abroad-adopting-a-country-then-crashing-its-best-seller-list.html |date=27 May 2015 }}, ''The New York Times''.</ref>

Pivot died of cancer in [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], on 6 May 2024, at the age of 89.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2024/05/06/bernard-pivot-journaliste-createur-d-apostrophes-est-mort_6231907_3382.html|title = Bernard Pivot, journaliste, créateur d'« Apostrophes », est mort|last = Rosseau|first = Christine|date = 6 May 2024|accessdate = 6 May 2024|newspaper = [[Le Monde]]|lang = fr|url-access = subscription|archive-date = 6 May 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240506130911/https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2024/05/06/bernard-pivot-journaliste-createur-d-apostrophes-est-mort_6231907_3382.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Spelling championships==
[[File:Bernard Pivot.png|thumb|Bernard Pivot, centre, in [[Saint-Symphorien-de-Lay]] in the 1980s. His father, Charles, is to the right, wearing a tricolour ribbon.]]
In 1985, Pivot created the ''Championnats d'orthographe'' ("Spelling Championships") with linguist Micheline Sommant,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/quiz-quelle-note-auriez-vous-obtenue-a-cette-dictee-de-bernard-pivot-07-05-2024-TNFUUNBOSNA5HMPYEOQ2AFGCHU.php |website=Le Parisien |access-date=8 May 2024 |title=Quiz : Quelle note auriez-vous obtenue à cette dictée de Bernard Pivot ? |date=7 May 2024 }}</ref> which in 1992 became ''Championnats mondiaux d'orthographe'' ("World Spelling Championships"), then the ''Dicos d'or'' ("Golden Dictionaries") in 1993.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

==Pivot and James Lipton==
[[James Lipton]] was inspired to create ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'' by a chance viewing of a Pivot programme on cable TV. Lipton adapted Pivot's use of a [[Proust Questionnaire]] to one that he himself used at the end of each episode of ''Inside the Actors Studio''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/arts/arts-abroad-venturing-outside-actors-studio-to-paris.html?pagewanted=all |title=Arts Abroad; Venturing Outside Actors Studio (to Paris) |work=The New York Times |date=10 September 2002 |access-date=27 July 2018 |archive-date=27 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727212416/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/arts/arts-abroad-venturing-outside-actors-studio-to-paris.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live |last1=Riding |first1=Alan }}</ref>

However, the question "''If God exists'', ''what would you like Him to tell you when you're dead?''" was considered potentially offensive to US audiences and replaced by a more acceptable "''If'' ''heaven'' ''exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?''"{{cn|date=May 2024}}

Pivot became aware that Lipton was inspired by his questionnaire and invited him to appear on the final episode of ''[[Bouillon de culture]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=James Lipton's Hero, French Cinephile Bernard Pivot, on How He Helped Shape 'Inside the Actors Studio' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/james-liptons-hero-how-he-helped-shape-inside-actors-studio-1282530/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=4 March 2020}}</ref>

==Television work==
* ''{{ill|Ouvrez les guillemets|fr}}'' (1973–1974)<ref name="AcadGonc">{{cite web |title=Bernard Pivot : Éléments de biographie |url=https://www.academiegoncourt.com/bernard-pivot |publisher=Académie Goncourt |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref>
* ''[[Apostrophes (talk show)|Apostrophes]]'' (1975–1990)<ref name="AcadGonc" />
* ''[[Bouillon de culture]]'' (1991–2001)<ref name="AcadGonc" />
* ''{{ill|Double je (television show)|lt=Double je|fr|Double je (émission de télévision)}}'' (2002–2006)<ref name="AcadGonc" />

== Defence of paedophilia ==
On 26 November 1973, Pivot invited the paedophile novelist [[Tony Duvert]] onto his show ''Ouvrez les guillemets''. Duvert refused, letting his editor and supporters Jérôme Lindon and [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]] promote his book.<ref>[https://www.ina.fr/video/CPF86628626 Ouvrez les guillemets : émission du 26 novembre 1973], INA.</ref>

In January 1975, [[Yves Berger]], the literary director of [[Éditions Grasset]] and [[Pierre Sabbagh]]'s cultural adviser on the 2nd channel of French television, persuaded [[Jacqueline Baudrier]], in charge of the 1st channel, to replace Marc Gilbert's ''Italics'' with Pivot's ''Ouvrez les guillemets'' talk show.<ref>[[Édouard Brasey]], ''L'effet Pivot'', [[Ramsay (publishing house)|Éditions Ramsay]], 1987, p.</ref> On 30 May 1975, he received [[Vladimir Nabokov]], the author of ''[[Lolita]]'' on ''Apostrophes''; on 12 December 1976, [[Michel Foucault]], who criticised psychoanalysis and "contractual sexuality" based on consent or non-consent, with [[René Schérer]], [[Guy Hocquenghem]] and [[François Châtelet]]; on 14 October 1983, [[Renaud Camus]], defender of the paedophile cause;<ref>L’Infini, Gallimard, n° 59, automne 1997, "La Question pédophile".</ref> on 23 April 1982, [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit]], who described having ambiguous relations with children in kindergarten;<ref>[https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/09/04/est-ce-que-l-ina-a-fait-disparaitre-les-propos-de-daniel-cohn-bendit-sur-la-sexualite-des-enfants_1676251 Est-ce que l'INA a fait disparaître les propos de Daniel Cohn-Bendit sur la sexualité des enfants ?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104032920/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/09/04/est-ce-que-l-ina-a-fait-disparaitre-les-propos-de-daniel-cohn-bendit-sur-la-sexualite-des-enfants_1676251 |date=4 January 2020 }}, ''Libération''.</ref> on 2 March 1990, [[Gabriel Matzneff]], a noted paedophile<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-20|title=Gabriel Matzneff: the paedophile who hid in plain sight|url=https://preview.spectator.co.uk/article/gabriel-matzneff-the-paedophile-who-hid-in-plain-sight|access-date=2022-02-19|website=The Spectator Australia|language=en-US|archive-date=19 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219194728/https://preview.spectator.co.uk/article/gabriel-matzneff-the-paedophile-who-hid-in-plain-sight|url-status=live}}</ref> whose book ''Mes amours décomposés'' was highly criticised;<ref>[https://www.lesinrocks.com/inrocks.tv/lattrait-de-gabriel-matzneff-jeunes-enfants-etait-denonce-chez-pivot/ Quand l'attrait de Gabriel Matzneff pour les jeunes enfants était dénoncé chez Pivot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929042223/https://www.lesinrocks.com/inrocks.tv/lattrait-de-gabriel-matzneff-jeunes-enfants-etait-denonce-chez-pivot/ |date=29 September 2019 }}, Les Inrocks.</ref> on 23 February 2001, Catherine Dolto, to talk about the legalisation of paedophilia on ''Bouillon de Culture''; and in 2005, [[Michel Tournier]], whose references to paedophilia were published in [[Bibliothèque de la Pléiade |La Pléiade]] in 2017.<ref>[http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2016/01/19/03004-20160119ARTFIG00161-michel-tournier-sous-la-loupe-de-bernard-pivot.php Michel Tournier sous la loupe de Bernard Pivot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929051139/http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2016/01/19/03004-20160119ARTFIG00161-michel-tournier-sous-la-loupe-de-bernard-pivot.php |date=29 September 2019 }}, ''Le Figaro''.</ref>
 	
On 17 March 2013, Pivot defended [[Alexandre Postel]]'s book ''Un homme effacé'', which described a man who owns explicit pictures of children on his computer,<ref>[https://www.lejdd.fr/Chroniques/Bernard-Pivot/Arrete-sur-images-596851Le Journal du dimanche Arrêté sur images]{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Le JDD.</ref> and on 30 October 2016, ''La Mauvaise vie'' by [[Frédéric Mitterrand]], as a "brave book, very brave, a kind of secular confession where each confession, as in [[Georges Perec]]'s "Je me souviens…", starts with "Je regrette…".<ref>[https://www.lejdd.fr/Chroniques/Bernard-Pivot/LIRE-Pivot-Frederic-Mitterrand-Je-regrette-820486 Frédéric Mitterrand : "Je regrette…", la chronique de Bernard Pivot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929044603/https://www.lejdd.fr/Chroniques/Bernard-Pivot/LIRE-Pivot-Frederic-Mitterrand-Je-regrette-820486 |date=29 September 2019 }}, ''Le Journal du Dimanche''.</ref>
	
In 2017, neuropsychiatrist Louis Masquin, in the Catholic magazine ''[[La Croix (newspaper)|La Croix]]'', described the introduction of paedophilic literature on French television in Pivot's shows as the "reflection of the "paedophile adventure", "considered approximately normal".<ref>[https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Forum-et-debats/Le-lent-changement-regard-societe-pedophilie-2017-04-04-1200837019 Le lent changement de regard de la société sur la pédophilie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929043237/https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Forum-et-debats/Le-lent-changement-regard-societe-pedophilie-2017-04-04-1200837019 |date=29 September 2019 }}, ''La Croix''.</ref>

In 2019, Pivot wrote on Twitter that "cardinals, bishops and priests who rape children don't believe in heaven or hell", criticising the influence of the [[Vatican II]] reform. In September 2019, he declared on Twitter: "In my generation, boys looked for little Swedish girls who had the reputation of being more open than French girls. I imagine our surprise, our fear, if we had approached a [[Greta Thunberg]]". Julien Bayou, from the environmentalist party [[Europe Écologie – Les Verts]], replied: "You're talking about a minor" and French feminist Caroline de Haas asked him to delete his post,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/01/greta-thunbergs-defiance-upsets-the-patriarchy-and-its-wonderful Greta Thunberg's defiance upsets the patriarchy – and it's wonderful] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007172639/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/01/greta-thunbergs-defiance-upsets-the-patriarchy-and-its-wonderful |date=7 October 2019 }}, ''The Guardian''.</ref> something he refused to do.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/entry/greta-thunberg-bernard-pivot-assume-son-tweet-sexiste_fr_5d8b2ae6e4b08f48f4ad00ee Bernard Pivot assume son tweet sexiste sur Greta Thunberg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925163318/https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/entry/greta-thunberg-bernard-pivot-assume-son-tweet-sexiste_fr_5d8b2ae6e4b08f48f4ad00ee |date=25 September 2019 }}, ''Huffington Post''.</ref> He was immediately defended by far-right essayist [[Éric Zemmour]].<ref>[http://www.adoxa.info/discours-eric-zemmour-a-la-convention-de-la-droite-retranscription-complete Discours d'Eric Zemmour à la convention de la droite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006181705/http://www.adoxa.info/discours-eric-zemmour-a-la-convention-de-la-droite-retranscription-complete |date=6 October 2019 }}, Adoxa.</ref> In December, Pivot apologised for allowing Gabriel Matzneff to describe his relationships with teenage girls and boys on his literary talk shows without challenging him.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/french-publishing-boss-claims-she-was-groomed-at-age-14-by-acclaimed-author "French publishing boss claims she was groomed at age 14 by acclaimed author"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108184437/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/french-publishing-boss-claims-she-was-groomed-at-age-14-by-acclaimed-author |date=8 January 2020 }}, ''The Guardian''.</ref>

In July 2021, Pivot posted a tweet about actress [[Françoise Arnoul]], who had just died, in which he remarked that "young people in the 1950s dreamed about her breasts. But the ones seen in ''[[The Wreck (1949 film)|The Wreck]]'' were not hers. She confessed it to me on a broadcast. Still a minor, she was not allowed to be filmed naked."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/07/22/ses-seins-ont-fait-rever-lhommage-de-bernard-pivot-a-francoise-arnoul-cree-le-malaise-9687062.php|title='Ses seins ont fait rêver' : l'Hommage de Bernard Pivot à l'actrice Françoise Arnoul crée le malaise|access-date=22 July 2021|archive-date=22 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722165118/https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/07/22/ses-seins-ont-fait-rever-lhommage-de-bernard-pivot-a-francoise-arnoul-cree-le-malaise-9687062.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Bernard Pivot}}
*{{IMDb name|0686118}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pivot, Bernard}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century French journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century French journalists]]
[[Category:French male journalists]]
[[Category:French television presenters]]
[[Category:French television talk show hosts]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Knights of the National Order of Quebec]]
[[Category:Clergy from Lyon]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Le Figaro people]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Lyon]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in France]]