Michel Grumbach (1941-2007)

Paris, France, April 2, 2007 -- It is with the utmost sadness that we announce the death of the dearest of friends, Michel Grumbach. He died Sunday, April 1, from complications of heart bypass surgery.

Michel was a devoted friend, and the kindest of individuals. He was an outstanding researcher and a great teacher. I owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. He was a man of the highest integrity and honesty both in his personal life and his professional life.

Michel had recently retired from the University of Paris where he taught social statistics and sociology for more than three decades. His intellectual curiosity was boundless and the breadth of his knowledge impressive.

He leaves behind a devoted wife, Hélène, who went through a lot with him because of his ill-health: she was selfless in her dedication. Michel was a lucky man to have had her as his life-long companion. They had been together for over forty years. He also leaves behind a 92 year-old father, a younger brother, and many disconsolate friends and colleagues in France and in the U.S.

I will miss Michel's warmth, his wit and intelligence, our discussions, the laughter and joys we shared.

He was truly my soul brother and my life will never be the same without him. I feel a privileged man to have been his friend.

Merci, Michel, pour tout.

In friendship and in love for ever,
Dominic Lusinchi

SELECTED BILBIOGRAPHY of Michel's work

"Idéal de l'individu - Individu statistique - Individu social: Remarques sur l'individuation des pratiques et des 'opinions' dans la méthodologie du questionnaire", paper presented at the Journée d'Etude "Sociologie et Statistique", organized by the Société Française de Sociologie and INSEE, October 1982.

L'Oeil à la page: Enquête sur les images et les bibliothèques
with Jean-Claude Passeron et al.
Paris (Centre Pompidou), Bibliothèque Publique d’Information, 1985.

"Le Temps de Lire" ["Lu à la télévision. Lecture du magazine A2 - Antiope vidéo"], Réseaux, Année 1987, Volume 5, Numéro 25, p. 85-117.

"À propos de quelques travaux de Lazarsfeld et de son école - Media, leadership et interaction : une sociologie des pouvoirs invisibles", with Nicolas Herpin, Enquête, Cahiers du CERCOM, no.4 Juin 1988, pp. 77-88.

"L'individu polyphonique", Dialogue, no.102, 4e trimestre, 1988, p. 54-71.