Barbara Samson
Encyclopedia
Barbara Samson is a French
poet who was infected with HIV
at the age of seventeen. Her story was made into the French television film Being Seventeen.
Samson sought treatment for an eating disorder
at the age of seventeen. While staying in a French health clinic, she fell in love with another patient who wrote love poems for her. She later discovered that the poems were translations of Jim Morrison
's lyrics of The Doors
' rock songs. Her lover had also concealed his HIV
-positive status, which Samson in turn contracted. She told nobody about her illness, because she was so ashamed. Barbara met Eric and in 1994 they opened together the "sidaction", a programme which was on almost every French television channel. She also toured numerous schools to speak about AIDS.
Samson wrote an autobiography, On n'est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans ("Nobody Is Serious When They're Seventeen"). The book became a bestseller
in France and was translated into eight languages.
, Barbara Samson lives and works in France. She visited Ohio University
in the spring of 2003 to speak about living with HIV.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poet who was infected with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
at the age of seventeen. Her story was made into the French television film Being Seventeen.
Samson sought treatment for an eating disorder
Eating disorder
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
at the age of seventeen. While staying in a French health clinic, she fell in love with another patient who wrote love poems for her. She later discovered that the poems were translations of Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
's lyrics of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' rock songs. Her lover had also concealed his HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive status, which Samson in turn contracted. She told nobody about her illness, because she was so ashamed. Barbara met Eric and in 1994 they opened together the "sidaction", a programme which was on almost every French television channel. She also toured numerous schools to speak about AIDS.
Samson wrote an autobiography, On n'est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans ("Nobody Is Serious When They're Seventeen"). The book became a bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
in France and was translated into eight languages.
, Barbara Samson lives and works in France. She visited Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
in the spring of 2003 to speak about living with HIV.