Angelique Chrisafis “Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent co-founder and ‘true prince of culture’, dies at 86” https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/sep/08/pierre-berge-yves-saint-laurent-co-founder-and-true-prince-of-culture-dies-at-86
「イヴ・サン・ローラン」*1の共同創業者で、ブランドをビジネス面で支えたPierre Bergé氏が逝去。享年86歳。
社会党支持者として；
Bergé was one of the most influential business figures on the French cultural scene, known for his very public long-term personal and business relationship with the designer Saint Laurent*2, which captured the public imagination and inspired a series books and films*3.From 1961, when the two men founded the fashion house, the tough Bergé led the business side, while the shy Saint Laurent created the designs that would shape French style throughout the 60s and 70s.
Bergé was a passionate bibliophile and art collector, amassing two of the world’s top private art and rare books collections with Saint Laurent*4. He also campaigned for gay rights and donated a large part of his fortune to Aids research. In 2010, he was part of a group of business figures who took over the struggling daily French newspaper Le Monde, and was chairman of the supervisory board at the newspaper.
なお、ベルジェ氏はイヴ・サン・ローランの私生活におけるパートナーでもあった。イヴ・サン・ローランが2008年に死去する直前に「シヴィル・ユニオン」*5。因みに、仏蘭西で同性婚姻が合法化されるのは2013年のこと*6。なお、ベルジェ氏は今年３月に米国人の庭園デザイナーMadison Cox氏と結婚している。
The former Socialist French culture minister, Jack Lang, led tributes on Friday, calling Bergé a “true prince of the arts and culture”.Always politically engaged, Bergé was an important backer and confidant of the late French Socialist president François Mitterrand and later backed other Socialist presidential candidates including François Hollande. In January this year, he threw his weight behind the centrist newcomer, Emmanuel Macron, who went on to win the presidency in May. Although backing Macron “wholeheartedly”, Bergé at the same time lamented the decline of the Socialist party.
“A whole part of our collective citizen and artistic memory dies with Pierre Bergé,” Macron said in a statement, praising Bergé’s genius for creating “beauty and excellence” wherever he could.
Hollande described Bergé as “an exceptional man of conviction who defended the idea of equal rights for all”.
See also
Anthony Haden-Guest “'For Yves, art was food for the soul'” https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jan/18/yves-saint-laurent-art-fashion
*1:http://www.ysl.com/ See eg. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Saint_Laurent_%28entreprise%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(brand) See also http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20150110/1420867770
*2:Link to Paul Kelso “Fashion archive: Yves Saint Laurent says adieu to couture” https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/jan/08/yves-saint-laurent-retires-2002
*3:See John-Michael O'Sullivan “Yves Saint Laurent: the battle for his life story” https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/mar/02/yves-saint-laurent-battle-life-story
*4:See Agence France-Presse “Yves Saint Laurent co-founder to sell off remainder of rare books collection” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/15/pierre-berge-yves-saint-laurent-co-founder-sell-off-remainder-rare-books
*5:See also http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160131/1454254511 http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160220/1455980612 http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160226/1456510988 http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160303/1456967149
*6:See eg. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20130523/1369282829
