Cyril Christo

Cyril Christo (born 11 May 1960, Paris, France) is a writer, poet, photographer, filmmaker and animal rights activist residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[1] He has created or co-created a number of poetry and photography books that include Lost Africa: The Eyes of Origin, Walking Thunder: In the Footsteps of the African Elephant, and In Predatory Light: In Search of Lions, Tigers and Polar Bears.^[2]

Cyril Christo
Born	(1960-05-11) May 11, 1960 (age 65) Paris, France
Education	Columbia University
Occupation(s)	Writer, producer, poet, filmmaker, animal rights activist
Known for	A Stitch for Time
Notable work	Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity
Spouse	Marie Wilkinson
Children	Lysander Christo
Parent	Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (aka Christo and Jeanne-Claude)

He is the son of Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, who are known as the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Since 1997 he frequently works on films and books with his wife, Marie Wilkinson, and occasionally too with his son Lysander.^[3] The three of them worked with Jane Goodall on the book Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity.^[4] Christo and Wilkinson's first book of black and white photography, Lost Africa: The Eyes of Origin, published by Assouline Publishing in 2005, focused on ecological and man-made troubles that face tribal communities in the Horn of Africa. Photographs from that project were also published.^[5]

Early life and education

Christo was born in France and has lived in the United States since the age of four, when his family moved there in 1964.^[6] Christo studied at Cornell University and graduated from Columbia University in 1982.^[7][8]

Film work

Together with his wife Mary Wilkinson^[9] he has been engaged since 1996 in wildlife documentary projects^[10][11] and has published several photography books about Africa that call attention to endangered animals such as elephants, leopards, giraffes, and lions.^[12] as well as appeals for more stricter measures to enforce the protection of whales and polar bears.

Their son Lysander (born 22 September 2005)^[13][14] has participated in their projects in East Africa from an early age.^[15][16] In 2007 they released a short documentary film titled Lysander's Song about the interactions between humans and elephants.^[17][18]

Cyril Christo^[19] is the co-producer of A Stitch for Time: The Boise Peace Quilt Project,^[20] which was nominated in 1998 for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film documents activities of a group of quilt makers in Boise, Idaho, who received international attention for promoting peace by sending a quilt in 1981^[21] to the Soviet Union as well as making the National Peace Quilt in 1986 for display in the United States Senate and later deposit at the Smithsonian Institution.^{[22] [23][24] [25]}

The film Walking Thunder: Ode to the African Elephant about Lysander's encounter with elephants in East Africa^[26] was screened at the 2019 Taos Environmental Film Festival.^[27]

Book publications

• 1990: The Dream of the Earth. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston. (Book of Poems) ISBN 088946846X
• 1990: The Iguana at the Millenium: Poems: 14. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston. (Book of Poems) ISBN 0889468451
• 1993: Christo: The Reichstag and Urban Projects. (Contributor) ISBN 3791313231
• 1997: Hiroshima, My Love (Epic poem on the theme of Hiroshima) ISBN 0773428194
• 1998: Whispering Veils : Poems on Christo's Art. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, New York. ISBN 0883630230
• 1998: The Twilight Language, Canios Editions. ISBN 1886435057
• 2004: Lost Africa: Eyes of Origin. Assouline, New York City. (with Marie Wilkinson ISBN 284323607X
• 2004: Africa : la terre des origines. (in French) ISBN 2843236436
• 2009: Walking Thunder: In the Footsteps of the African Elephant. Merrell, London. ISBN 1858945054
• 2013: In Predatory Light: Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears. Merrell, London. (with Marie Wilkinson) ISBN 1858946107
• 2022: Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity. (with Marie Wilkinson and Lysander Christo, prologue by Jane Goodall)^[28] ISBN 3862069443
• 2024: Wonder and the World: A Childhood Among the Species. Verlag Kettler. (with Marie Wilkinson and Lysander Christo) ISBN 3987410795