Albert Delègue (May 2, 1963 — April 14, 1995)

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— Albert Delègue (May 2, 1963 — April 14, 1995) was a fashion model who died of AIDS at Purpan Hospital in Toulouse, France. He was 32 years old. . Delègue’s ashes were later scattered in the bay of Sao-Martinho do Porto, Portugal. . The son of a French doctor and a Portuguese potter, Delègue had two older sisters. He spent his childhood in Mérilheu, a small village in the Pyrenees where he worked as a ski-instructor until 1989 when a friend introduced him to the director of a modeling agency. . Delègue began his modeling career at the age of 26, securing advertising campaigns with @Versace, @MaisonValentino, @CalvinKlein, @SoniaRykiel @Kenzo, @Iceberg and most notably @GiorgioArmani — a contract reportedly worth 5 million francs. . Alongside Werner Schreyer, Greg Hansen, @yogicameron, Mark Vanderloo and Alain Gossuin, Delègue was considered one of the top male models of the early 1990’s. . The official version given at the time of Delègue’s death stated that on August 2, 1994, as a result of a skiing accident, he was left paralysed for months. He was then admitted to hospital on March 22, 1995, which led to his death on April 14. However, on April 19, media outlets such as L' HUmanité and Idole reported that the cause of death was AIDS-related encephalitis. Fellow model Alain Gossuin in an interview said: . “His own family wanted to silence the real reason for his death. I had discussed it in a TV show, believing that my intervention would put a spotlight on a scourge that took a worrying magnitude. Result? I was censored in the editing. My approach was sincere.” . Gossuin’s interview was never broadcast. Unlike the American model Gia Carangi (1960 — 1986), whose death made her the subject of books, films and documentaries, the stigma of having HIV appears to be the reason why Delegue still remains an enigma even until today. . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial) on Apr 14, 2019 at 9:10am PDT

Sad but familiar story from that time. RIP.  Here are some other modeling shots I found online: