Alain Bombard

Alain Bombard, 1981

Alain Bombard (born October 27, 1924 in Paris , † July 19, 2005 in Toulon ) was a French doctor, biologist and environmental politician of the Parti socialiste . He was a member of the European Parliament from 1981 to 1994 .

Life

Bombard was best known for his medical investigations into the possibility of survival of castaways in the 1950s, some of which were based on spectacular self- experiments. From July 1952, Bombard sailed from Monaco to Gran Canaria and from there across the Atlantic in 65 days , allegedly without carrying any drinking water or food . According to his own statements, he only fed on seawater and marine animals, especially fish, whose squeezed liquid he used as drinking water. He arrived in Barbados on December 23rd. Bombard lost about 25 kilograms on the voyage and later suffered from spinal problems that were attributed to his ocean voyage.

Bombards self-experiment was challenged a few years later by Hannes Lindemann . Lindemann did not succeed in repeating Bombard's self-experiment; instead he needed rainwater as drinking water to survive; he therefore later claimed that Bombard had actually taken fresh water on board and drank it and had also been secretly supplied with food on the Atlantic. Lindemann's results, which differ from those of Bombard, were used by the World Health Organization for their advice on shipping.

Bombard later became active in environmental policy. In 1981 he was a member of the French government ( Mauroy's cabinet ) as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment . He was also a member of the European Parliament from 1981 to 1994 , where he was a member of the Socialist Group . There he was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and Vice-Chairman of the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China (1984–89) and the Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand (1989–94).

Works

• Naufragé volontaire , Paris, 1953. German: In a rubber dinghy across the Atlantic . German Book Association, Berlin, Darmstadt 1953
• Report technique de l'expérience de survie prolongée en mer à bord de l'Hérétique en 1952 . Paris 1954

Web links

• Literature by and about Alain Bombard in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Alain Bombard in the European Parliament 's database of MEPs
• Differentiated article by Spiegel Online on Bombard's salt water thesis
• Two documentaries with Alain Bombard about the dying of the Mediterranean ( Memento from July 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Anthony Smith (August 24, 2005). Obituary. Alain Bombard. The Guardian (accessed March 29, 2007)
2. ^ Ulli Kulke (February 16, 2006). Survival at sea. Quench your thirst with salt water. Spiegel Online (accessed March 29, 2007)
3. ^ Entry on Alain Bombard in the European Parliament 's database of deputies