Professeur Choron

French humorist (1929– 2005)

Georget Bernier (ʒɔʁʒe bɛʁnje; 21 September 1929 – 10 January 2005), more commonly known as Professeur Choron (pʁɔfesœʁ ʃɔʁɔ̃), was a French humorist and founder of Hara Kiri magazine.

Born in La Neuville aux Bois in Lorraine, Bernier was orphaned by his father at 11 years and without a proper education, he vacillated between many jobs before fighting in the Indochina Wars for 28 months. On his return he worked in the press, and rose through the ranks to take the position of sales manager of the satirical newspaper Zéro.

It was at Zéro that he met François Cavanna and Fred, with whom he founded the magazine Hara Kiri in 1960. After an initial ban, production of the magazine moved from Rue Choron to Rue de Montholon and Éditions du Square was created at its publication house. In addition to his role of patron of Éditions du Square, Bernier also invested time in writing and photo editing for Hara Kiri. It was during this era that he appeared on Jean Christophe Averty's television variety show Les Raisins verts. In 1969 the Hara Kiri team created Hara Kiri Hebdo which shortly thereafter was renamed L’Hebdo Hara Kiri. and, as of 2011, remains in publication.

In 1988 Bernier adapted his fiches bricolages for television. He also participated in Jean Michel Ribes' Merci Bernard. His last publications include La Mouise

Bernier was the father of the comedian Michèle Bernier. He died 10 January 2005 at Necker Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery alongside his wife Odile Vaudelle (1934–1985). In 2008, director Pierre Carles and artist Martin released the documentary Choron Dernière in his honour.