Yves Bernard Marie Joseph Hervouet died on 24 June 1985 in Lancaster Royal Infirmary. He was forty-nine and had battled against cancer with selfless courage and dignity for over two years.

Born in Nantes (the ‘t’ in his name is sounded), he studied English at the University of Montpellier, where he completed a postgraduate dissertation on Lord Jim, which even in later years was to remain his favourite Conrad novel.

After teaching as a lecteur at the University of Birmingham and then at the University College of Swansea, in 1965 he joined a team working on the Nuffield Foreign Languages Project for primary and secondary schools. Based at the University of Leeds and later of York, he helped to write material for these pioneering audio-visual courses, but was chiefly responsible for the authenticity of the French and for the production of taped material in Paris.

On completing this assignment in 1973 he accepted a post in the Language Centre of the University of Essex before joining the University of Lancaster a year later. Appointed to the Department of French Studies as an applied linguist, he was well fitted to create new language courses at all levels and to inaugurate courses in stylistics. In addition he contributed to the teaching of nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature (including narratology) and offered Maupassant as a special subject.

Endowed with abundant energy, an idealist and perfectionist, Yves Hervouet brought a passionate commitment to his work, expecting a like response from colleagues and students.