Star hosts, controversial characters, fascinating curiosities, the Bogdanoff brothers were all of these. Those who made themselves known on French television in shows where they blithely mixed science, fantasy literature, astrophysics and science fiction have died six days apart from COVID-19.
Grichka succumbed to the disease on December 28, Igor followed on January 3. The second, plunged into an artificial coma, did not know that his inseparable twin was dead. They were 72 years old.
According to the daily The world, these two men, who could not take two steps without being stopped by fans, were not vaccinated.
The philosopher Luc Ferry, close to the Bogdanoffs, told the media that he has recommended about fifty times to the brothers to go for the vaccine.
Being very athletic, without a gram of fat, they believed that the vaccine was more dangerous.
Luc Ferry
For his part, Igor and Grichka’s lawyer, Édouard de Lamaze, asserted that his clients were not antivax. But he did not wish to provide reasons which would explain the position of the two brothers.
Their press secretary said the Bogdanoffs thought they were “unsinkable.” “Igor and Grichka were in a different world from ordinary people. ”
According to relatives, the twins, who have often been described as “super intelligent”, contracted COVID-19 in late November or early December and saw it as simple flu. Terror at home, they did not wish to take medication, preferring to rely on plants.
Born on August 29, 1949, the famous brothers were passionate about aeronautics, science and science fiction from their teenage years. Igor had a doctorate in theoretical physics and Grichka a doctorate in mathematics.
The show that made them known is Time X. It was presented from 1979 to 1987. The two hosts, then in their early thirties, were quite attractive. They presented their program against the backdrop of a spaceship in combinations of incredible kitsch. They were then entrusted with several other shows: Project X 13, X-rays, Science X, Close to the future.
Even if today, serious journalists and animators qualify the two men as “scientific popularizers” or downright “scientists”, the fact remains that their theories have often aroused strong reactions among great researchers.
The Bogdanoffs published numerous works, including Before the Big Bang, The end of chance and The face of god. They were also accused of plagiarism by an astrophysicist and were the subject of a CNRS report in which it was stated that the theses of the two brothers had no “scientific value”.
Invented, borrowed or exaggerated, their theories? This is what several scientists claim. One thing is certain, the Bogdanoff brothers mastered the art of communicating them well. It is necessary to see with what aplomb they answer the questions of Thierry Ardisson, in 2004, at the time of the release of their book on the Big Bang.
But arguably the most fascinating aspect about these two men concerns their timeless physical appearance. Over the years, the public has witnessed a strange metamorphosis which has raised many questions.
When asked repeatedly about these changes that suddenly gave them a prominent chin, as well as oversized cheekbones and lips, Igor and Grishka always skillfully dodged the question, leaving doubt as to the effects of many surgeries or the outcome of many surgeries. ‘a disease (acromegaly).
Met by a journalist in the streets of Paris earlier this week, a young woman described the Bogdanoff brothers as follows: “Monstrous, amazing and intelligent. She gives a fairly accurate description of these characters.
These men, pure products of their time, played with science, sought an eternal youth and bypassed the truth to fully nourish their media image, a universe of which they knew all the cogs.
They felt unsinkable. They thought they were above the fray. But yet… Those who have spent their lives bringing a taste for science to the public have turned their backs on it at the wrong time. They did not need this science because, for them, it was part of it. “Were we really born on Earth? They sometimes wondered in front of stunned and excited journalists.
By flirting with aliens, the Bogdanoffs had become prototypes.