Departures of note

Noël Godin was a Belgian writer, film critic and anarchist provocateur who became internationally famous as "L'Entarteur" (the pie-thrower). Born in Liège, he made cream pies his weapon of choice, targeting figures of political, economic and cultural power in a campaign of public ridicule he called "entartage." Under the pseudonym Georges Le Gloupier, he and his pastry commandos pieed more than 25 public figures from 1969 onward, including Marguerite Duras, Jean-Luc Godard, Nicolas Sarkozy, Patrick Bruel and Microsoft's Bill Gates in Brussels in 1998.

His most persistent target was the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, whom he pieed at least seven times between 1985 and 2015, calling him "the head for a pie par excellence." The incidents drew wide media attention and inspired songs and comedy sketches, cementing Godin's place in French-speaking popular culture.

Beyond his pranks, Godin was a prolific writer and film critic, contributing to satirical publications such as Siné Hebdo and Siné Mensuel and authoring books including "Crème et châtiment" and "Entartons, entartons les pompeux cornichons!" He also appeared in films by Jan Bucquoy and directed short films. He died on 23 August 2026 at the age of 80.