“I cried a lot”: Bernard Pivot's daughter says a lot about the man he was

On Monday, May 6, 2024, Bernard Pivot died at the age of 89. On Sunday, December 22, 2024, in an interview given to Le Parisien, Cécile, one of the journalist's daughters, raised the veil on the man he was.

© BestImage Bernard Pivot died à the age of 89 years old.

IN BRIEF

• Bernard Pivot died on May 6, 2024, the day after his 89th birthday, after a long battle with cancer.
• His daughters, Agnès and Cècile Pivot, published a book in tribute to their father, describing his life as that of a man of letters and great kindness.
• Discover how Bernard Pivot, a simple and good-natured man, left his mark on those close to him with his kindness and his love of literature and wine.

An immense sorrow… Monday, May 6, 2024, after months of fighting cancer, it was the day after his 89th birthday that Bernard Pivot died. A few months after his death, it was in order to pay tribute to him that his daughters, Agnès and Cécile Pivot, published the book Le gût des autres, published by Calmann-L&eacutevy. The opportunity to say a little more about the man who was the emblematic host of the shows Apostrophes and Bouillon de culture.

Sunday, December 22, 2024, in an interview granted in Le Parisien, Cécile Pivot explained: “I really wanted to talk about the father, the journalist, the friend, the man of letters. He had a very good life”, before specifying: “He always said that he had been lucky, but he deserved it. He was such a kind man”. However, the host was not spared at the end of his life…

Cécile Pivot: “He was wonderful”

In all transparency, the young woman indicated: “These last four years, he és in great old age with the loss of autonomy and it ’s not funny for him. He was wonderful, never complained. On the contrary, he never stopped thanking us, saying that he was lucky to be surrounded by“. If his father was not very present because “he worked a lot”, they had a strong relationship.

“We had a great childhood. He was very close to his daughters. […] He wished us happy holidays and we always received, with a check, a postcard that he had chosen carefully for us. He wrote us a wonderful little text for Agnès about music and for me about literature”, she said remembered.

Cécile Pivot: “He was so happy”

If writing this book could have been theatrical, Cécile Pivot assured that it had made him “cry a lot”. “I felt like he was behind my shoulder“, she assured. With this work, the young woman wanted assure that her father was “exactly the same on a television set as at the dinner table” with his family or friends.

After explaining that Bernard Pivot had remained “very simple”, his daughter confided that he was a bon vivant and loved good wine. Thus, he went every year to see Henri Jayer, one of the greatest winegrowers in Burgundy. “He left with a box, then two or three. I can still see him opening the trunk of his car with his treasures. He was so happy”, she remembered with emotion.