Grichka Bogdanoff, who according to a popular crypto meme was – like his brother Igor – capable of changing the market with a single phone call, has died at the age of 72 following a period of illness.
The twin celebrities and scientists first rose to fame as co-hosts of the television show ‘Temps X’, which blended science and science fiction elements and ran from 1979 to 1987. The twins remained in the public consciousness thanks to their distinctive appearance and frequent appearances on celebrity television shows such as ‘The Masked Singer’.
To crypto proponents, however, the Bogdanoffs are considered to be something closer to a godlike force capable of superhuman abilities and of altering financial markets with a single phone call. This birthed the ‘He bought? Dump it’ crypto meme that shows Igor Bogdanoff holding a mobile phone to his ear.
Over time, the outlandish nature of the twins’ powers has grown, reaching fresh heights of mythic impossibility with each retelling of the tale.
Some attributes the brothers are said to have included:
- Making the Rothschild’s bow before them
- Talking to aliens on Earth and beyond
- Psychic powers
- IQs over 9,000
- Controlling special nanobots called Bogdabots (which are inside your body right now)
- Owning every genetic research facility in the world
- Knowing exactly when you buy bitcoin, so they can dump the market
The real Bogdanoffs
While Grichka’s legend will be remembered fondly by the cryptosphere, the real Grichka and Bogdanoff story is no less fascinating. Born on August 29, 1949 in Saint-Lary, France, the Bogdanoff brothers were descended from several noble lines including the Kolowrat family of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. Of the two brothers, Grichka was the younger, being born 40 minutes after Igor.
The two were raised by their maternal grandmother Countess Bertha Kolowrat-Krakowská in her castle in Southern France. In 1925 Countess Kolowrat-Krakowská’s affair with Roland Hayes, an African-American lyricist, resulted in a divorce to her aristocratic husband, the loss of several estates and titles, and access to her four elder children.
The affair also produced a single daughter, Maria Dolores “Maya” Kolowrat – the twins’ mother. Maya Kolowrat later married Yuri Mikhailovich Bogdanoff, a Russian political immigrant descended from a noble line. In the 17th century, the Bogdanoff’s had even styled themselves with the high title of ‘Prince’ by decree of Russian Tsar Feodor III.
While Personal scandals and the tumultuous history of Europe’s 20th century had left the Bogdanoffs far poorer and much diminished, they remained a family of considerable wealth, if not standing.
The brothers’ early years provided ample opportunity to study the many books in their grandmother’s castle library, and through the many staff and workers who passed through its doors, the twins learned German, French, Russian, and English.
Fame and the Bogdanoff affair
In 1979 the brothers shot to fame with their TV show ‘Temps X’. The show combined science and science fiction elements and introduced the French public to major US and UK shows which had previously remained unknown to them. Some of the programs featured in ‘Temps X’ included cultural touchstones such as The Twilight Zone, The Prisoner, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who.
Following the conclusion of Temps X in 1987 the twins drifted in and out of the limelight. In 1999 Grichka Bogdanoff received a PhD from the University of Burgundy. In 2002 Igor received a PhD of his own, also from the University of Burgundy. Both passed with a grade of ‘honorable’ – the lowest possible award.
Between 2001 and 2002 the brothers published a number of papers in scientific journals which were vetted and approved by peer review. In October 2002 however, the legitimacy of these papers was thrown into question by physicist Max Niedermaier who said, “The abstracts are delightfully meaningless combinations of buzzwords … which apparently have been taken seriously.”
Niedermaier later retracted his initial statement, but the controversy grew arms and legs as further scrutiny of the twins’ papers brought a fresh wave of allegations and criticisms. The alleged failure of the peer review process became known as ‘the Bogdanoff affair’ and left a cloud over the pair’s work.
The legend of the Bogdanoffs
In later years, the appearance of the Bogdanoffs became the focus of much media speculation. When the Bogdanoffs attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 the press attributed their rising cheekbones and elongated chins to cosmetic surgery. Igor and Grichka strongly denied ever having undergone any surgical procedures.
On December 15 of 2021, Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff were admitted to hospital in Paris, suffering from complications due to Covid-19. Grichka Bogdanoff died on December 28. For all the tall tales of superhuman powers, it appears that Grichka Bogdanoff was just as human as the rest of us.
The death of the younger Bogdanoff brother marks the passing of a man as multifaceted as multi-faced. Born to a family mired in political and personal controversy, Grichka nevertheless went on to great success, only to later become mired in controversies of his own creation.
Perhaps there is some final irony in the fact that when the internet remembers Grichka with the inevitable ‘Goodnight sweet Prince’ epitaph it will bestow upon him the title which his family once held, and lost, so long ago.
In the crazy and incredible world of crypto culture, hiding among the many grains of a mountain of salt, you may just find one small grain of truth.
Grichka Bogdanoff, 1949-2021.
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