We are sad at the news that Claude Piéplu died yesterday morning after a "long and painful illness" which he suffered uncomplainingly.

Claude Piéplu was not only an actor and a famous voice. He was also a big-hearted man, a generous man, and an activist. He was one of the celebrities who launched the "Appeal of the Hundred" in favour of nuclear disarmament. He defended this cause with conviction, even to the point of demonstrating years later in front of the National Assembly.

In September 1996, when ACDN made an appeal to him, he did not hesitate to take part in the "Eight Hours for Nuclear Disarmament" organised for the first time in La Rochelle. He lent his voice to a woman who had survived the Hiroshima bombing, reading her testimony in a way that made this distancing produce an even more moving effect. At that time he was with Yannick Jaulin, another storyteller who attended the event, one of the first artists to sign our Appeal for a referendum for nuclear, chemical and biological disarmament in a complete, universal and controlled form - an appeal that is alas even more topical today.

CLaude Pieplu also signed the World Appeal to Free the Planet from all Weapons of Mass Destruction. Although he had no children, he was preoccupied with the fate of future generations and with the future of the planet. It can be said that he was a citizen of the world. We will miss him. To his wife and his nieces we present our sincere condolences.

May the « Voice of the Shadoks » continue to be heard.

25 May 2006

ACDN