Paris attacks:
Friends, families worldwide recall memories of beloved
PARIS: French President Francois Hollande said the attacks in Paris targeted “youth in all its diversity”, killing at least 129. Here are some of their stories:
TV EDITOR MOURNED ON AIR
Fanny Minot went straight from her job at a TV news magazine show to the Bataclan theatre on Friday night. By Sunday, the show’s host, Ali Baddou, would be mourning her death on-air.
Minot, 29, was an editor at the show, Le Supplement. Artistic and free-spirited, she enjoyed making independent movies and, above all, enjoyed new experiences, her friend Stephen Fox said. He got to know Minot purely by chance, when she and a friend of hers were travelling in the US four years ago and stayed as couch-surfers with him and his then-roommate.
“She was such a loving, compassionate person, with such an adventurous view on life,’’ said Mr Fox, 27, who credits her energetic outlook with inspiring him to get his post-college life in gear by going to nursing school. “She was a very motivated, hardworking person and she just loved life.”
The memory that most sears his mind is of their goodbye at the airport in Paris. “We just stood there in silence, realising it was going to be a long time before we saw each other again, and we said, ‘We’re not saying goodbye, we’re saying: until the next time’,” he recalled. “Which now kind of hurts, because that’s taken away.”
MUSLIM INTELLECTUAL
Mohamed Amine Ibnolmobarak, 29, was an architect of Moroccan descent who studied and worked in Paris. He was killed at the Le Carillon restaurant in Paris while dining there with his new wife, according to a Facebook posting by his cousin Akram Benmbarek of San Diego. The wife, Maya Nemeta, was shot three times and is in a critical condition at the hospital, the cousin wrote.
Ibnolmobarak was born in Rabat, Morocco, and went to France to for university. Jean Attali, his professor at Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris Malaquais, where Ibnolmobarak also taught, said his young colleague was a “Muslim intellectual’’ whose thesis diploma focused on the pilgrimage to Mecca.
“Amine had found his place in our school and in the exercise of his profession of architect,’’ Mr Attali wrote. “Many of us ... hoped for a great future for him.’’
The young architect had co-founded a cultural association focused on cities called New South. This month, the group’s work — including that of Mr. Ibnolmobarak — was exhibited at the Galerie du Crous in Paris. New South said “His research process, based on intelligence, tolerance and love, could not have been a better legacy against terror.’’
MUSICIAN SEEKING PERFECTION
Kheireddine Sahbi, 29, was an Algerian violinist who had come to Paris to perfect his art at the Paris-Sorbonne university. According to an announcement by the school, Sahbi was enrolled in the Masters of Ethnomusicology programme and was involved in the university’s traditional music ensemble.
The school said Sahbi died while returning home in the 10th arrondissement, where terrorists attacked a restaurant. The young violinist, born on the outskirts of Algiers, was widely known as Didine. Sahbi’s friend from Algeria, Faycal Oulebsir, posted on his Facebook page: “Didine, my friend ... You left us too young, dying in Paris so far away from us, taking with you your joy of living and so many hopes.’’
SPOUSES WHO DIED TOGETHER
On their wedding day in 2013, Anne and Pierre-Yves Guyomard struck the mayor of their Paris suburb, Emmanuel Lamy, as a couple “full of life and hope”, Mr Lamy recalled to Le Parisien.
Two and a half years later, their community, StGermain-en-Laye, would be holding a moment of silence this week for them and others killed in Friday’s attacks in Paris.
The Guyomards were particularly steeped in music. Pierre-Yves, 32, taught film scoring at a technical institute, while Anne, 29, had studied music before going to work at a childcare centre. The two had lived for a time on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where Anne Guyomard’s family spent an agonising day and a half wondering about the couple’s fate, calling unanswered phones and appealing for word of the two via Facebook, before being told they had been killed.
Anne was “the daughter I would wish on all parents — one who’s attentive, one who’s full of life’’ and she loved children and people in general, brother-in-law Chris Hamer said. PierreYves, meanwhile, was “an encyclopedia of music’’.
BRILLIANT BUSINESSMAN
Sebastien Proisy, 38, had launched a promising career in international business consulting that would never be fully realised. He died at a restaurant along Bichat street in Paris during the terrorist attacks when he was shot in the back, according to Liberation newspaper.
He was at a business dinner and accompanied someone at the table who wanted to take a smoke outside, according to his great uncle Daniel Senecaut. Proisy had studied political science and later went to Florida with his Bulgarian wife and son. On their return, they settled in Noisy-Le-Grand on the outskirts of Paris. Proisy also served in staff positions at the European parliament in Brussels.
In the past year, he had gone into business in consulting for Airbus. He had also worked as an executive for a company promoting French agribusiness abroad and another business doing market research in Iran and Central Asia. “He was very brilliant,’’ La Voix du Nord newspaper quoted his grand aunt Jeanne Broutin as saying. She and Mr Senecaut described their grandnephew as kind and charming, but also a workaholic.
AD HEAD AND SOCCER PLAYER
Francois-Xavier Prevost, 29, was head of advertising at the French advertising agency LocalMedia and also worked recently for another communications company, Havas Media Group. He died in the attack on the Bataclan theatre, according to Yannick Bollore, the Havas Group CEO who mourned the young worker and several others via Twitter.
Prevost had also spent some time in the US as an exchange student at the University of North Texas in 2007. He also played with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a pro-soccer team, in 2009.
DIED FOR HER LOVE OF MUSIC
Marie Mosser’s love of music brought her to the Bataclan theatre where she died. The 24-year-old from the French city of Nancy worked for the label Universal Music, according to the 20 Minutes’ news website.
Mosser’s Twitter profile said she worked in communication and digital marketing. Pascal Negre, president of Universal Music France, tweeted over her death and that of two other victims: “The Universal Music family is in mourning.’’ Mosser’s father is a manager with Nancy city government.
NEW LIFE WITH NEW SKILLS
Bertrand Navarret, 37, lived in the southern French community of Capbreton near the Spanish border and was just spending a few days in Paris with friends. They decided to take in a rock concert, where Navarret was killed at Bataclan. Starting on a family career path in law, Navarret had given it up for a new life in Canada, where he learned to work with wood. He eventually returned to France with new skills and remade himself as a carpenter and avid snowboarder, according to Liberation.
ALBUM REVIEWER
Guillaume Decherf, 43, had written about the latest album by Eagles of Death Metal late last month for French culture magazine Les Inrocks and was at the band’s concert on Friday night.
Vincent Boucaumont said he had known Decherf for 25 years, since high school, when they would go down into the basement of Mr Boucaumont’s grandfather’s house to play the guitar. Both music lovers, they had a radio show focusing on hard rock and heavy metal music for two years after high school, he said.
“He was very sociable, very open to others, very curious, a pacifist and very kind,’’ Mr Boucaumont said. “He was someone who tried to understand things and who also shared with others.’’
A fellow music journalist, Thomas Mafrouche, often saw Decherf at concerts and was supposed to meet him on Sunday. In a Facebook message, Mr Mafrouche said Decherf was extremely proud of his two young daughters. “I’m thinking about their pain, about their father, whom they will miss terribly,” he wrote.
SAVED HIS PARTNER
Germain Ferey, 36, of Paris, was a photographer and film artist who loved rock music, according to his sister, Domitille Ferey. He was at Bataclan on Friday when gunfire rang out.
His sister said he shouted for his partner to run — but when she turned and looked behind her, Ferey was not there. “We think he told her to run because he wanted her to protect herself for the sake of the little one,’’ his sister said, referring to the couple’s 17-month-old daughter who was with her grandparents. The partner was unhurt.
READY TO ROCK
Pierro Innocenti, 40, of Paris, was a manager at his family’s Italian restaurant on the outskirts of the city. His last post on his Facebook page was a photo of the Bataclan sign advertising the Eagles of Death Metal show, with a caption Innocenti added saying “Rock!’’
Innocenti helped run Livio, a five-decade-old eatery known for attracting a star-studded clientele to its spot in a Paris suburb. French comedian and actor Smain, a relation of Innocenti’s by marriage, said on his Facebook page he was “alive in body but bruised in my heart’’ on hearing of his death.
A friend, Olivier Cagniart, told Vanity Fair Italia that Innocenti had been tired and hadn’t felt like attending a concert, but rallied and decided to go.
A surfer and skydiver, Innocenti looked at life as a constant challenge to do more, Mr Cagniart told the magazine. “He always had 1,000 new projects to carry out, experiences to have. Watching him in action made you want to hug him and tell him, ‘Thanks for all your energy’.”
PASSIONATE TRAVELLER
Justine Moulin, 23, of Paris, had a passion for travel. She studied at the Skema Business School in Paris and planned to attend its satellite campus in Raleigh, North Carolina, according to The News & Observer newspaper in Raleigh. Moulin was killed while having dinner at Le Petit Cambodge, her favorite restaurant. “She was always smiling. She wanted to travel the world,’’ friend Julie de Melo said.
BELOVED SON
Thomas Duperron, 30, of Alencon, France, died at Bataclan theatre. He worked as communications director for the Maroquinerie theatre in Paris, according to its website and the news site les InRocks. In Facebook postings, his brother Nicolas called Duperron’s death a “horrible tragedy” and his parents thanked all the friends who tried to find him after the attacks, saying they were “so much there for him”.
EXPECTANT FATHER
Matthieu Giroud, 38, of Jarrie, France, was killed at the Bataclan concert hall. He taught geography at Paris-Est-Marne-la-Vallee university, where he specialised in urban development. The university said they were “crushed and outraged”. Giroud left behind a pregnant wife and 3-year-old son, according to Liberation.
‘EVERYONE’S BEST FRIEND’
Nick Alexander, 36, of Colchester, England, was working at Bataclan selling merchandise for the performing band, Eagles of Death Metal. “Nick was not just our brother, son and uncle. He was everyone’s best friend: generous, funny and fiercely loyal,’’ his family said. “Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the world.’’
‘CHARLIE HEBDO’ SUPPORTER
Elodie Breuil, 23, a design student, had gone to the Bataclan concert hall with six friends, said her brother, Alexis, who confirmed his younger sister’s death to Time magazine. The friends scattered in the shooting. Alexis told the magazine that his sister and mother had marched in Paris after the attack early this year on the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. “They did it to show their support,’’ he said.
FOOTBALLER’S COUSIN
Asta Diakite, was the cousin of French midfielder Lassana Diarra, who played against Germany in Friday’s soccer match at Stade de France, during which three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the stadium. Diarra, who is Muslim, tweeted after the shootings, “She was like a big sister to me.’’ He added “It is important for all of us who represent our country and its diversity to stay united against a horror which has no colour, no religion. Stand together for love, respect and peace.’’
CHARITY WORKER
Elif Dogan, 28, a Turkish-born Belgian national, lived in Belgium but made monthly business trips to Paris, said her father, Kemal Dogan. She was staying at an apartment near the concert hall, but he told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency that she was not at Friday’s concert and he was not sure where his daughter died. He said her death was confirmed by Belgian officials. He said his daughter had been involved in charity work since her school days, distributing food to the poor or teaching French in Nigeria.
‘A VERY GREAT MAN’
Fabrice Dubois worked with the publicity agency Publicis Conseil. The agency said in a statement on Facebook that he was killed at the concert hall. “He was a very great man in every sense of the word. Our thoughts are with his family, his wife, his children, his friends, those with whom he worked.’’
RECENTLY ENGAGED Michelli Gil Jaimez, of Tuxpan in the Mexican state of Veracruz, had studied at a business school in Lyon, France, and was currently living in Paris. She had just got engaged to her Italian boyfriend, according to her Facebook page. Mexican officials did not give her age or say where she was killed. She also held Spanish citizenship.
FOREIGN STUDENT
Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, a senior at California State University, Long Beach, was attending Strate College of Design in Paris during a semester abroad programme. Gonzalez, from El Monte, California, was in the Petit Cambodge restaurant with another Long Beach State student when she was fatally shot, California State officials said at a news conference on Saturday.
Her mother, Beatriz Gonzalez, said Nohemi graduated from high school early and couldn’t wait to go to college. “She was very independent since she was little,’’ she said. Design professor Michael LaForte said Gonzalez stood out at the California university. “She was a shining star and she brought joy, happiness, laughter to everybody she worked with and her students, her classmates.”
BACHELOR LIFESTYLE
Mathieu Hoche was a cameraman for France24 news channel, which said he was 37. He was killed at the concert. A friend, Antoine Rousseau, tweeted about how passionately Hoche loved rock and roll. Gerome Vassilacos, who worked with Hoche, said his colleague was fun, easygoing and great to work with. “Even though he laughed easily and joked around, he worked hard.’’
Hoche had a 9-year-old son of whom he had custody every other weekend, so he lived a bit of a bachelor lifestyle, Mr Vassilacos said. He and Hoche would go out for beers and chat up women, and Mr Vassilacos said he recently thought they should hang out more often because they had so much in common.
‘IMMENSE SADNESS’
Cedric Mauduit was director of modernisation of the French department of Calvados. The department issued a statement announcing his death at the concert hall, saying that Mauduit “found it a joy to share this concert with his five friends” and said the sadness of those who knew him was “immense”. Anyone who worked with Mauduit, the statement said, could appreciate both his skills and his humanity.
SISTERLY BOND
Aurelie de Peretti had posted on Facebook that she was going to Bataclan on Friday night, said her older sister, Delphine, who, with her father, Jean-Marie, confirmed her death to Time magazine after a call from Paris police. Delphine said she posted a joking response “saying ‘enjoy your great evening listening to that crap music’.” While Delphine lives in London, Aurelie had stayed closer to their hometown of St Tropez in the south of France and worked at a beach resort in the summer. “I left 13 years ago and yet somehow we got closer and closer over the years,” her sister said.
WHITE COLLAR CRIME LAWYER
Valentin Ribet, 26, a lawyer with the Paris office of the international law firm Hogan Lovell, was killed at Bataclan. Ribet received a master of laws degree from the London School of Economics in 2014 and earlier undertook postgraduate work at the Sorbonne university in Paris.
His law firm said he worked on the litigation team, specialising in white collar crime. “He was a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” the firm said.
EXILED UNDER PINOCHET
Patricia San Martin Nunez, 61, a Chilean exile, and her daughter, Elsa Veronique Delplace San Martin, 35, were attending the concert at Bataclan with Elsa’s 5-year-old son, whom Chilean officials say survived. San Martin Nunez had been exiled from Chile during the dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet and her daughter was born in France.
Chile’s Foreign Ministry described them as the niece and grandniece of Chile’s ambassador to Mexico, Ricardo Nunez.
“They were taken hostage and so far we know they were killed in a cold and brutal manner,” Mr Nunez told Radio Cooperativa on Saturday. He said two people with them escaped alive.
DOCTORAL STUDENT
Valeria Solesin, 28, an Italian-born doctoral student at the Sorbonne, had lived in Paris for several years. She had gone to the concert at Bataclan with her boyfriend. They lost track of each other as they tried to escape. Her mother, Luciana Milani, told reporters in Venice, “We will miss her very much and she will be missed, I can also say, by our country. People like this are important.”
Solesin had been working at the Sorbonne as a researcher while completing her doctorate. While at a university in Italy, Solesin had worked as a volunteer for the Italian humanitarian aid group Emergency.
“It is tragic that a person so young, who is trying to understand the world and to be a help, find herself involved in such a terrible event,’’ said Emergency regional coordinator in Trento, Fabrizio Tosini.
PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
Luis Felipe Zschoche Valle, 33, was a Chilean-born resident of Paris. Chile’s Foreign Ministry said he had lived in Paris for eight years with his French wife and was killed at Bataclan, where he had gone with his wife. He was a musician and member of the rock group Captain Americano.