Jean-Michel Boris (14 February 1933 – 5 November 2020) was a French artistic director. He was Director General of the concert hall

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

from 1979 to 2001.

Biography

Jean-Michel was the son of film distributor Jacques Boris and Anne-Marie Bargues. He was also the nephew of

Bruno Coquatrix Bruno Coquatrix (5 August 1910, Ronchin, Nord – 1 April 1979) was a French music producer, the owner and manager of the Olympia Hall in Paris from 1954 until his death in 1979. Career Coquatrix was first known as a song and music writer. He ...

. He moved from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the age of 21 to study medicine, but was dissuaded by his uncle, who offered him a job at the Olympia. He began working there on 5 November 1954 as a machinist. He subsequently learned how to work as an electrician, projectionist, sound designer, manager, and programmer. Boris became artistic director of the Olympia in 1959, co-director in 1970, and director general in 1979 following the death of Coquatrix. He would stay in this position until 17 July 2001. He served a total of 47 years at the Olympia. He became an Officer of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

on 11 February 1999, and an Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

on 4 December 2001. He was also a member of the

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

and was in charge of programming at the

Théâtre Déjazet The Théâtre Déjazet is a theatre on the boulevard du Temple (popularly known as the 'boulevard du crime’) in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was founded in 1770 by Comte d'Artois who later was crowned Charles X. It was then close ...

from 2001 to 2002. Jean-Michel Boris died in

on 5 November 2020 at the age of 87 after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Publications

*''28 boulevard des Capucines : la fabuleuse aventure de l'Olympia'' (1991) *''Olympia Bruno Coquatrix, 50 ans de music-hall'' (2003) *''L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix : 50 ans de concerts mythiques 1954-2004'' (2003) *''Docteur Renaud...'' (2004) *''Marc Lavoine'' (2006) *''Monstres sacrés : portraits de la chanson'' (2011) *''Mort Schumann : le géant de porcelaine'' (2011) *''Journal et autres carnets inédits'' (2014) *''Le cadeau d'une vie'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boris, Jean-Michel 1933 births 2020 deaths People from Bordeaux French artistic directors Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France