Noël Godin
Noël Godin | |
|---|---|
 Godin in 2008 | |
| Born | 13 September 1945 Liège, Belgium |
| Died | 23 August 2026 (aged 80) Brussels, Belgium |
| Other name | "Georges Le Gloupier" |
| Occupations | Writer, critic, actor, anarchist |
Noël Godin (13 September 1945 – 23 August 2026) was a Belgian writer, critic, actor and notorious pie thrower or entarteur.[1] Godin gained global attention in 1998 when his group ambushed Microsoft CEO Bill Gates in Brussels, pelting the software magnate with pies.[2][3] After bombarding Gates, Godin allegedly said, "My work here is done."[4] He was described as "the French-speaking world's best-known prankster."[1]
Philosophy
Godin insisted he was non-violent and was careful to use only soft pies made of cream and sponge cake that would not physically hurt his victims, which he purchased from local bakeries.[3][5][6] He said his humor could be traced back to Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, the Marx Brothers, Norman Wisdom, and the radical "yippies" of the Youth International Party.[1][3][6][7]
A supporter of anarchist causes,[3][4] Godin targeted figures representing elites whom the public has turned against.[1] One of his favorite targets was the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was pied by Godin or one of his accomplices on at least seven occasions.[5][8]
Pieing targets
Between 1969 and his death in 2026, Godin threw pies at more than 25 people in the fields of culture, politics, and beyond.[3][6] The list of public figures Godin and his accomplices have targeted with pies includes:
- Marguerite Duras (1969)[3][5]
- Maurice Béjart (1969)[1][5]
- Marco Ferreri (1976)[9]
- Jean-Luc Godard (1985)[1]
- Bernard-Henri Lévy (at least seven times, including 1985, 1994, 2015)[1][8]
- Alain Bévérini (1993)[1]
- Patrick Bruel (1993)[3][10]
- Jean-Pierre Elkabbach (1994)[1][11]
- Hélène (1995)[1]
- Philippe Douste-Blazy (1995)[3][6]
- Daniel Toscan du Plantier (1996)[1][3][9]
- Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (1996)[1][3][12]
- Priests at Nantes Cathedral (1996)[13]
- Nicolas Sarkozy (1997)[3]
- Bill Gates (1998)[2][7]
- Bernard Landry (2000)[14]
- Jean-Pierre Chevènement (2002)[15]
- Jean Charest (2003)[16]
- Doc Gynéco (2007)[17]
- Michael O'Leary (2023)[18]
Death
Godin died in Brussels on 23 August 2026, at the age of 80.[19][18]
Books
- Anthologie de la subversion carabinée, L'âge d'homme, 1989, ISBN 2-8251-0715-8 (philosophical study of political freedom), updated and expanded edition, 2008
- Zig zig boum boum, Le Veilleur, Toulouse, 1994
- Crème et châtiment : mémoire d'un entarteur, Albin Michel, 1995
- Godin par Godin, Yellow Now, 2001, ISBN 2-87340-151-6
- Armons-nous les uns les autres! (novel), Flammarion, 2003, ISBN 978-2-08-068385-4
- Entartons, entartons les pompeux cornichons!, Flammarion, 2005, ISBN 2-08-068546-5 (The story of all his pieings).
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Dahlburg, John-Thor (8 December 1997). "He Plasters Paris' Elite With Cream Pies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 "In Brussels, Gates Takes a Pie in the Face (Published 1998)". 5 February 1998. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Valauskas, Edward J. (1 June 1998). "FM Interviews: Noel Godin". First Monday. 3 (6). doi:10.5210/fm.v3i6.602. ISSN 1396-0466.
- 1 2 Vitale, Alfred (2010), "Godin, Noël (b. 1945)", The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, p. 1, doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1690, ISBN 978-1-4051-9807-3, retrieved 30 December 2024
- 1 2 3 4 Gallix, Andrew (20 July 2011). "From Jonnie Marbles to the Yippies: a history of pie activism". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 "Brussels Journal; The Philosopher With a Pie, and a Glint in the Eye (Published 1998)". 20 April 1998. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 Stoddard, Katy (19 July 2011). "Custard pie as political art form: 1998 profile of Noel Godin". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 "Henri-Levy hit with cream pie… again". The Times of Israel. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 "Notas sobre a abertura do festival". Folha Online (in Portuguese). 7 May 1997. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ "« Le meilleur reste à venir » : on est déjà content avec ça !". Brussels Life (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ Le Point (in French). May 1994.
- ↑ Kynaston, Nic (1998). The Guinness Book of Records 1999. Guinness. ISBN 978-0-85112-070-6.
- ↑ "Des manifestants perturbent une messe à Nantes". Le Monde (in French). 10 September 1996. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ "Cream and punishment". The Globe and Mail. 18 April 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ Robert-Diard, Pascale (22 September 2002). "Jean-Pierre Chevènement retrouve son « entarteur » devant le tribunal" (in French). pp. Le Monde. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ "Mario Dumont et Jean Charest entartés". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). 13 April 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ↑ Leroy, Guillaume (11 July 2007). "Exclusif : Noël Godin revient sur l'entartage de Doc Gynéco". Télé 2 semaines (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- 1 2 "Belgian pie-throwing activist Noël Godin dies aged 80". The Brussels Times. 24 August 2026. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
- ↑ Rédaction, La (24 August 2026). "Noël Godin, alias l'Entarteur, est décédé à 80 ans". La Libre.be (in French). Retrieved 24 August 2026.