- Patrick Gyger
Patrick J. Gyger (b. 1971 in
São Paulo , Brazil) is a Swiss historian and writer. In the 1990s he specialised in medieval studies and in 1998 published the book, "L'Épée Et La Corde: Criminalité Et Justice À Fribourg (1475-1505)" on the topic of crime and justice.Maison d’Ailleurs
Since 1999, he has been the director of
Maison d'Ailleurs (translated as "House of Elsewhere"). It is a museum housing one of the world's largest collections of literature relating toscience fiction ,utopia , and extraordinary journeys. Maison d’Ailleurs is located inYverdon-les-Bains , Switzerland. It was founded by the French encyclopedist Pierre Versins in 1976 and now owns over 40,000 books and thousands ofpulp magazines , as well as many other items related to science fiction and its imagery. It is also a gallery showing temporary exhibitions exploring the main themes of the field. As the director of the museum, Gyger was Guest of Honour atEurocon 2004.In 2008, Gyger opened the "Espace Jules Verne", a wing of Maison d'Ailleurs dedicated toJules Verne and extraordinary journeys.This extension also houses a very important science fictionpulps collection.pace
In the early part of the 21st Century, Gyger co-founded the company "SpaceOp", with Arthur Woods. He was one of the co-managers of European Space Agency's ITSF study – Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications – a research and educational project looking into science fiction to find ideas for space engineers.
Utopiales
Patrick Gyger was artistic director of the
Utopiales International Science Fiction Festival International inNantes , France from 2001 to 2005. Utopiales is the largest European event for science fiction. Held yearly, it reaches a wide public with a program that has involved the participation of writers such as Samuel R. Delany, Brian Aldiss, James Morrow, K.W. Jeter, David Brin, Robert Holdstock, Christopher Priest, Terry Bisson, Norman Spinrad. Jeffrey Ford, Lucius Shepard. It also has art exhibitions and a lively film screening programme.Flying Cars
Gyger's recent research is in the history of the
flying car . He published the book, "Les voitures volantes, Souvenirs d'un futur rêvé" with Favre in September 2005External links
* [http://www.ailleurs.ch/] Maison d’Ailleurs
* [http://www.utopiales.org] Utopiales
* [http://www.ailleurs.ch/fr/livre_vv.php] "Les voitures volantes, Souvenirs d'un futur rêvé" (French)
* [http://www.roadabletimes.com/old/roadable_experi_gyger.html] Flying Cars Review (English)
* [http://www.spaceop.com] SpaceOp
* [http://www.itsf.org/] Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications (ITSF)
* [http://www.itsf.org/press/bbc.html] BBC Press review of ITSF
* [http://www.editionsfavre.com] Favre, publisher of "Les voitures volantes"
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