Georget Bernier, better known as Professeur Choron, was a French humorist and the founder of Hara Kiri magazine. Born on September 21, 1929, in La Neuville-aux-Bois, Lorraine, Bernier was orphaned by his father at the tender age of 11 and never received a proper education.
He drifted from job to job, working variously as a salesman, a laborer, and a journalist, before enlisting in the Indochina Wars for 28 months. After his return, Bernier worked in the press, eventually rising to the position of sales manager at the satirical newspaper Zéro.
It was during his time at Zéro that Bernier met François Cavanna and Fred, with whom he founded Hara Kiri magazine in 1960. Despite an initial ban, the magazine continued to thrive, and Bernier's role as patron of Éditions du Square, the publication house, allowed him to invest time in writing and photo-editing for the magazine.
Bernier's creative endeavors extended beyond Hara Kiri, as he appeared on Jean-Christophe Averty's television variety show Les Raisins verts and contributed to other magazines published by Editions du Square, including the monthly comic Charlie Mensuel, the ecological journal La Gueule ouverte, and the BD, l'hebdo de la BD.
In 1970, Bernier co-founded Charlie Hebdo, a weekly political newspaper, which folded in 1981 but was relaunched in 1993 and remains in publication to this day. Throughout his career, Bernier was a regular contributor to Charlie Hebdo and was involved in various other publications, including ZOO, Yeti, and Zero.
In addition to his work in publishing, Bernier also adapted his fiches bricolages for television and participated in Jean-Michel Ribes' Merci Bernard. His last publications included La Mouise and Grodada, a children's publication.
Bernier's personal life was marked by controversy, particularly in 1996 when an interview with Aure Atika for Radio Nova degenerated into a heated exchange of words between Bernier and Atika. Despite this, Bernier remained a prominent figure in French humor and satire until his death on January 10, 2005, at the age of 75.
Bernier was the father of the comedian Michèle Bernier and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery alongside his wife Odile Vaudelle, who passed away in 1985. In 2008, director Pierre Carles and artist Martin released the documentary Choron Dernière in his honor.
