Coluche

Coluche

The role model I have chosen is Michel Colucci, better known as Coluche. He was a famous French comedian. I’ll begin with my role model’s biography, and then I’ll try to explain why I chose him as a role model.

First, a little biography: Coluche was born in 1944. His father died in 1947. He was educated by his mother who was a florist and didn’t have a lot of money. He began his career in the “café gare” where he met a lot of famous actors. He quickly became a very famous comedian who fought against inequalities. He organized a lot of events to fight racism, homelessness, joblessness, and so on.

"He attempted to present himself for French presidential elections in 1981, but had to cancel because of the pressure made on him by political parties fearing that a non-negligible part of the electorate would vote for him. Some threats to his life were also mentioned."

Having grown old in a poor neighborhood, Coluche knew poor people’s problems. So in 1982, he asked the government to create a law which enabled people who give money to charity organizations to pay less tax. But his best idea was “Les Restaurants du Coeur” which he founded in 1985; it’s an association which gives food to poor people. In 1986 he died in a motorcycle crash.

Michel Colucci (Coluche)

So, why did I choose this role model? The main reason is his generosity; indeed, he spent his entire life helping poor people and fighting inequalities. Through his shows he fought against racism, poverty, and all the problems of society, and after his shows he continued to fight by making radio shows. It’s during one of these shows that he came up with the idea of “Les Restaurants du Coeur.” Then, with Jean Jacque Goldman, who made a song for the association, Coluche founded the charity which gave out 8.5 million meals the first year in Paris. Nowadays, the “Restos du Coeur” (as the French call it) gives 60 million meals every year to poor people. With this association, Coluche became the one of the first artists to help poor people, and more important, he became a role model for artists who joined the association and gave a lot of money to help poor people. The second reason I chose him as a role model is because of his political commitment: he had grown old in a poor place and knew the societal problems, that’s why he could tell what help was needed to get rid of poverty.

It’s for these two main reasons that I chose Coluche as a role model. To me, he is the creator of a generation of those who help poor people.