Boris Cyrulnik

(1937) French neuropsychiatrist of Jewish origins, he escaped deportation, left orphan he was entrusted to social services; he specialized in Neurology and Psychiatry in 1970. Militant environmentalist, among the founders of human ethology, head of a research group in clinical ethology at the Toulon hospital, developed the attachment theory of J. Bowlby. He expanded the meaning of “resilience” to the psychological field, as the ability to react to traumas and difficulties, recovering psychological balance through the mobilization of internal resources.

Julien Besse: Discovering Boris Cyrulnik’s writings was a revelation for me, a gateway to the endless universe of human psychology. Since my teenage years, I haven’t missed a single one of his TV appearances or books. So you can imagine my near-hysterical excitement when, over 20 years after cultivating a boundless admiration for him, the opportunity arose to interview him.
Upon arriving at his home, a charming seaside house, I was greeted by a man of disarming simplicity. Time had made its mark, eroding the eternal youth image I had held in my mind. Being accustomed to the intricacies of interviews and editing, I knew all too well how television appearances could be polished, words sharpened and made more striking. I was, therefore, braced to meet the man behind the idealized image.
As he meandered through his garden, slightly bent with age, while I set up my equipment, he moved slowly but purposefully towards his chair. As I posed my first question and he began to speak, it was as if a bubble of magic filled the room. Like Benjamin Button, he seemed to grow younger before my eyes. The sharpness and agility of his thoughts bore no resemblance to television edits. This man was a true genius, combining the intellectual vivacity of youth with the wisdom of a life well-lived.