Yves Berger | |
|---|---|
 Yves Berger at the 2001 International Geography Festival | |
| Born | 14 January 1931 Avignon, France |
| Died | 16 November 2004(2004-11-16) (aged 73) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, publisher |
Yves Berger (14 January 1931 – 16 November 2004) was a French writer and editor. From 1960 to 2000, he was the literary director ofÉditions Grasset, and published several novels in which he expressed his attachment to the United States.
The son of a road transporter, Yves Berger affirmed that this detail has its importance because several of his works were filled with his love of the voyages. After high school at theCité scolaire Frédéric-Mistral [fr] in Avignon, Yves Berger studied at Montpellier and in Paris. His childhood, rocked byJack London andFenimore Cooper, inspired him with this passion for theNew World that never left him.
A teacher of English, he joined Grasset in 1960, becoming one of its pillars. He earned the nickname of "manitou of literary prizes" and the reputation of making or undoing the French literary prizes. He wrote his first novel, "The South," in 1962 about the State ofVirginia before theAmerican Civil War. Yves Berger also contributed to making French authors known such asMarie-Claire Blais andAntonine Maillet and prefaced the works of Native American authors such asDee Brown,Vine Deloria andN. Scott Momaday whom he considered to be the greatest Amerindian writer of today.
In 1975, asPierre Sabbagh's cultural adviser on the 2nd channel of french television, he convincesJacqueline Baudrier in charge of the 1st channel to replace Marc Gilbert'sItalics withBernard Pivot'sOuvrez les guillemets talk show.[1]
In 1996 he was appointed president of the "observatoire national de la langue française", an organism now deceased, then on 17 October 2003, vice-president of theConseil supérieur de la langue française. He complained of the ravages ofAmerican English on the French language. In April 2004, he was elected by theAcadémie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique to occupy the seat ofRobert Mallet, died 4 December 2002. He married in 1979, Marie-Claire Foulon.[2]
