Hugues Gall, the former director of the Paris Opera, has passed away at the age of 84.

The Académie des Beaux-Arts, of which he was a member, has announced his death. Hugues Gall served as director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Opéra de Paris.

Born on March 18, 1940, in Honfleur (14), Hugues Randolph Gall initially served as the assistant to the director of the Opéra de Paris, Rolf Liebermann, from 1973 to 1980. He then became the director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève from 1980 to 1995, before assuming the leadership of the Opéra National de Paris until July 2004.

"The success of the Opéra Bastille project over these nine years, in tandem with the Palais Garnier, featured 360 performances annually across two stages, drawing nearly 900,000 spectators. This period also witnessed the production of 80 operas and a commissioning policy that introduced new works to the Opéra Bastille," recalls the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Since 2008, Hugues Gall had been the Director of the House and Gardens of Claude Monet - Giverny.

Hugues Gall was elected as a member of the free members' section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts on December 18, 2002, to chair III, a position previously held by Daniel Wildenstein. Laurent Petitgirard, the perpetual secretary of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, paid tribute to "the memory of a major figure in the world of opera, music, and cultural administration." On X, Rachida Dati, the French Minister of Culture, wrote, "Culture and opera have today lost one of their great servants."

In 2008, Hugues Gall assumed the management of the House and Gardens of Claude Monet - Giverny for an initial five-year term, which was renewed until his death. Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister for the Armed Forces and an elected representative of the Eure department, paid tribute to a man "who worked so hard to promote our country's culture."