Jean Michel Lapin, the Minister of Culture has learned with great sadness, the news of the death Monday, October 29 in Paris, of the artist engaged photographer, painter and Haitian writer of renowned Gérald Bloncourt aged almost 92 years.

"The Minister, on behalf of the Government of the Republic, while welcoming the work and the career of this committed artist, extends his sincere condolences to his family, to the artists who have worked with him and to his loved ones affected by this disappearance."

Although he settled in France, Gérald Bloncourt had remained Haitian while carefully preserving his cultural and intellectual identity.

The French Institute in Haiti (IFH) who hosted this great artist with his wife and daughters, at the end of November 2016 for an exhibition and a series of events at Jerome workshops "salute the photographer, the writer and the activist and address all its thoughts to his family. That the earth may be light for him."

Learn more about Gérald Bloncourt :

Gérald Bloncourt, born November 4, 1926 in Bainet, Haiti, from a French mother and a Guadeloupe father, hero of the revolt of 1946 in Haiti spent his childhood in Jacmel. Following a terrible hurricane devastating the region, the family moved to Port-au-Prince in 1936.

In 1944, Gérald Bloncourt participated in the founding of the Haitian Art Center. Along with Jacques Stephen Alexis and René Depestre, he is one of the leading leaders of the "Five Glorious", revolutionary days that led to the fall of the Government Lescot in 1946. Expelled from Haiti, Bloncourt spent a few months in Martinique, then settles in Paris. He embarks on photography without ceasing to paint.

Communist militant, he was appointed in 1948 political manager of the photo service of the newspaper Humanité. Subsequently he becomes an independent reporter and works for Le Nouvel Observateur, L'Express, Le Nouvel Économiste, Options, Le Peuple, Regards, Syndicalisme hebdo, Témoignage chrétien, La Vie catholique, La Vie Ouvrière.

He returned to Haiti in 1986, after the fall of the Duvalier regime. In 1998, he co-founded the "Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and Democracy in Haiti", better known as the "Committee to judge Duvalier".

Awards and Distinctions :

1988: Honorary citizen of the city of New Orleans (USA)

1994: First Prize for all of his work, 2nd Salon of Contemporary Art of Le Mée

2008: Medal of the City of Paris (Echelon Vermeil), for all of his work

2011: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters

2015: Knight of the Legion of Honor

2016: Grand Cross the Order of Infant Dom Henri, decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

HL/ HaïtiLibre