Pierre Gruneberg (born Peter Grüneberg, 6 March 1931 – 4 June 2023) was a German-born French ski and swimming instructor. He was notably the husband of actress
Silvia Monfort
Silvia Monfort (born Simone Marguerite Favre-Bertin; 6 June 1923 – 30 March 1991) was a French actress and theatre director. She was the daughter of the sculptor Charles-Maurice Favre-Bertin and the wife of Pierre Gruneberg. She was named a ...
.
Biography
Born in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
on 6 March 1931, Gruneberg had German Jewish parents. The family fled to France during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Although his father was a lawyer and his mother was a schoolteacher, he followed his passion of sports. He became an instructor at the in 1950 and accompanied the French team as a physiotherapist at the
1956 Summer Olympics. He then worked as both a ski and swimming instructor.
In 1966, Gruneberg introduced the concept of evolutionary skiing to France, in which beginners would use short skis. In the summer, he would work as a lifeguard for the
Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat. At the beginning of the 1960s, he met Silvia Monfort, whom he started dating in 1963. However, the couple did not get married until 24 May 1990. Monfort died on 30 March 1991. In 1996, he founded the Association Prix Silvia Monfort.
Pierre Gruneberg died on 4 June 2023, at the age of 92.
Books
*''Ski court, ski long en 10 leçons et tout pour skier de A à Z'' (1972)
*''Nager en 10 leçons et tout pour être dans le bain de A à Z'' (1974)
*''La Natation'' (1978)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruneberg, Pierre
1931 births
2023 deaths
French skiers
German skiers
Sportspeople from Cologne
French people of German-Jewish descent