# Marc Gilbert

Marc Gilbert, born Gilbert Lévy on April 12, 1934, in Strasbourg and passed away on November 6, 1982, in Étretat, was a journalist and television host-producer.

## Biography
### Science Journalist

Marc Gilbert wrote for several magazines, including Planète, Reader's Digest, Life, Le Nouvel Adam, and, starting in 1964, for Le Nouvel Observateur, where he focused on scientific journalism. He covered topics like China's Space Program and interviewed Nobel Prize winners such as Jacques Monod, Linus Pauling, and Alfred Kastler.
Chosen as a host due to his highly telegenic appearance, he presented several TV shows from 1966 to 1974 on the ORTF network, such as Eurêka, Volume, Objectifs, Un certain regard, L'invité du dimanche, Dim Dam Dom, Pourquoi, and Italiques. In 1970, he co-hosted the live broadcast of Apollo 13's mission on RTL alongside Jean-Pierre Farkas. For Volume, he created documentaries on topics like comic books, industrial espionage, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University.
   The first French talk show, Italiques, was created by Marc Gilbert and Pierre Sabbagh. Inspired by an American format, it focused on culture and books, with an emphasis on free speech and audience participation.
   — (Excerpt from Bertrand Richard's book, Radio télévision : miroirs de nos passions, Le Cherche midi, preface by Pierre Lescure, 2014, p. 83.)

### Television Producer

From 1971 to 1975, he became a television producer and host of Italiques. In 1973, he married Laurence de Cambronne, a journalist for Paris Match who later became deputy editor-in-chief of Elle magazine. Under the influence of Jacqueline Baudrier, Marcel Jullian and Xavier Larère replaced Italiques with Bernard Pivot’s show Apostrophes.
   "Did you know that Pierre Sabbagh's second channel had barely more than fifty people to create entertainment for viewers and design its program lineup? Or that the news team at INF 2 overtook that of Channel One in just one year with three times fewer people? Or that “Pierre” handled everything essential with his checkbook, gathered his collaborators every evening, and would still be on set with some talented madmen at midnight, like the day I found him after the show produced by the late Marc Gilbert with Marc Ullmann, Italiques? Seeing that everything was about to change, the members of this team pushed for modernity but were still stuck in their thinking, as they couldn’t fully follow through on the commercial consequences to which they... (Excerpt from En toute liberté, byJean-Marie Cavada, Grasset, 2014)

### Secretary General of IFRI

In 1979, Marc Gilbert became the Secretary General of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). He introduced the organization in an episode of Tribune Libre, broadcast on France 3 on October 30, 1979.
   "Marc Lévy, known as Marc Gilbert, indeed did not come from an academic background, which caused some unease among Dominique Moïsi and his circle. Thierry de Montbrial had formed a friendship with this man of an unconventional career. He was one of the co-founders of Le Nouvel Observateur in 1963 and, in 1968, became the journalist-producer of the monthly science magazine Eurêka, followed by a show on innovation, Volume, and finally, from 1971 to 1974, the weekly literary magazine Italiques on the second channel. After the ORTF was dismantled, Marc Gilbert had to leave television, giving up his place to Bernard Pivot and his show Apostrophes. This led to a difficult period for him, which Thierry de Montbrial sought to end, first by attempting to have him join the CAP (the Center for Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in 1977, and then by strongly recommending him to Maurice Ulrich, the new director of Antenne 2."
   — (Excerpt from Sabine Jansen's book, Les boîtes à idées de Marianne, Éditions du Cerf, 2017, p.)
In January 1980, Xavier Pasquini and Christian Plume revealed in their book A Police Investigation into Le Canard Enchaîné that Marc Gilbert appeared on a list of informants for Le Canard Enchaîné. In 1981, Pierre Lellouche thanked him in his book Science and Disarmament, acknowledging his contributions during Lellouche’s time working on military affairs at IFRI.

## Death

On November 6, 1982, Marc Gilbert died in Étretat and was buried in the cemetery of Ettendorf. In 1983, Hervé Coutau-Bégarie dedicated his book on Soviet Maritime Power to him, then on June 16, 1986, Michel Polac paid tribute to him in a portrait by Jérôme Garcin, and finally, in 1985, Robbin Laird mentioned him in his work France, The Soviet Union, And The Nuclear Weapons Issue.