Georges Bernier

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Georges Bernier bigraphy, stories - Comedians

Georges Bernier : biography

21 September 1929 – 10 January 2005

Georges Bernier (21 September 1929 – 10 January 2005), more commonly known as Le Professeur Choron, was a French humorist and founder of Hara Kiri magazine.

Éditions du Square

It was at Zéro that he met François Cavanna and Fred, with whom he founded the magazine Hara Kiri in 1960. After an initial ban, production of the magazine moved from Rue Choron to Rue de Montholon and Éditions du Square was created at its publication house.

In addition to his role of patron of Éditions du Square, Bernier also invested time in writing and photo-editing for Hara Kiri. It was during this era that he appeared on Jean-Christophe Averty’s television variety show Les Raisins verts.

In 1969 the Hara Kiri team created Hara-Kiri Hebdo which shortly thereafter was renamed L’Hebdo Hara-Kiri. Other magazines published by Bernier’s Editions du Square were the monthly comic Charlie Mensuel, one of the first ecological journals La Gueule ouverte, Mords-y l’œil, Surprise from designer Bernhard Willem Holtrop, and Jean-Patrick Manchette’s BD, l’hebdo de la BD.

1970 saw the creation of Charlie Hebdo a weekly political newspaper for which Bernier was a regular contributor. The publication folded in 1981, but was relaunched by Cavanna and Bernier in 1993 and, as of 2011, remains in publication.

Works

Albums
  • Boum boum badaboum le Professeur Choron chante ses chansons
Books
  • Les Jeux de con du professeur Choron, Éditions du Square, 1971
  • Les Fiches bricolage du professeur Choron, Éditions du Square, 1977
  • L’Art vulgaire (with Gébé), Éditions du Square, 1982
  • Les Chansons du Professeur Choron (illustrated by Philippe Vuillemin), Himalaya, 1991
  • Choron et Vuillemin sexologues, Magic Strip, 1992
  • Je bois, je fume et je vous emmerde, ed. Régine Deforges, 1992
  • Les Jeux de con du Professeur Choron, Glénat, 1992
  • Vous me croirez si vous voulez (in collaboration with Jean-Marie Gourio), Flammarion, 1993
  • Y’a rien de pire que l’ignorance (in collaboration with Philippe Vuillemin), Canal+ edition, 1996
  • Tout s’éclaire (in collaboration with Éric Martin), Le Dilettante, 2001 ISBN 2-84263-044-0
Operettas
  • Ivre-mort pour la patrie (with Philippe Vuillemin), Canal+, 1998

Personal life

Bernier was the father of the comedienne Michèle Bernier. He died 10 January 2005 at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery alongside his wife Odile Vaudelle (1934–1985). In 2008, director Pierre Carles and artist Martin released the documentary Choron Dernière in his honour.

Early years

Born in La Neuville-aux-Bois in Lorraine, Bernier was orphaned by his father at 11 years and without a proper education, he vacillated between many jobs before fighting in the Indochina Wars for 28 months. On his return he worked in the press, and rose through the ranks to take the position of sales manager of the satirical newspaper Zéro.

Later years

In 1988 Bernier adapted his fiches bricolages for television. He also participated in Jean-Michel Ribes’ Merci Bernard. His last publications include La Mouise and Grodada, a publication for children. He also participated in several publications affiliated with Hara-Kiri, including ZOO and Yeti, as well as the launching of the periodical Zero in 1986.