Hervé Guibert (1955-1991) was a French journalist, author, and photographer who influenced the attitudes of the French public toward HIV/AIDS. From the time of his own diagnosis in January 1988, he kept a record of his life with the disease. Published as À l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie, of which Nina Bouraoui commented, “He tells of how life with the virus became an existential adventure, how it affected a generation, how it stole his friends and lovers, and how writing was for him a bulwark against death and destruction. It’s the story of an era, a turning point, when AIDS transformed our relationship with desire and sexuality forever.” Two more books followed before he succumbed to the disease in December 1991.
In his lecture, UVM professor Charles-Louis Morand-Métivier offered a discussion of Hervé’s life and work, 25 years after his death.