Igor Youriévitch Bogdanoff and Grégoire “Grichka” Youriévitch Bogdanoff were French television presenters and producers best known for hosting programs on science fiction, popular science, and cosmology.

The identical twins gained widespread recognition in the late 20th century, not only for their television work but also for the controversies that surrounded them.

The most significant of these was the Bogdanov affair, which revealed that the brothers had obtained Ph.D. degrees based on physics papers widely criticized as nonsensical, though they had still passed peer review and been published in respected scientific journals.

Grichka (right) and Igor (left) Bogdanoff in 2010.

In later years, their unusual appearance and dramatic transformation drew attention across the internet, where they became both meme icons and subjects of fascination.

Although the brothers consistently denied having undergone plastic surgery, they became famous for their striking facial features, particularly their pronounced cheekbones and chins.

Igor (left) and Grichka (right) in 2016.

In 2010, The Sydney Morning Herald remarked that their cheekbones were “so high and bulbous as to appear to threaten their owners’ vision,” noting that their appearance at the Cannes Film Festival had “caused a stir around the world.”

The publication also observed that their cheekbones had grown noticeably larger during the 1990s and that “growth in their lips and chins continued unabated through the last decade.”

According to Luc Ferry, a former French education minister and friend of the twins, both men had undergone cosmetic treatments, including Botox injections.

Grichka (left) and Igor (right) in the 1990s.

Rise to Television Fame

The Bogdanoff twins rose to prominence in French media during the late 1970s. In 1979, they launched Temps X (Time X), a groundbreaking program that blended science fiction with popular science.

The show aired for a decade, introducing French audiences to iconic international series such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, and The Prisoner.

Beyond television screenings, Temps X became a cultural touchstone, featuring musical guests like Jean-Michel Jarre and inspiring a generation fascinated by both futuristic ideas and scientific exploration.

Their charisma and ability to communicate complex ideas in an accessible way made them household names.

However, their ambition to move beyond television entertainment into the realm of academia would soon bring them into far more contentious territory.

The brothers in the late 1980s.

The Bogdanoff Affair

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the twins pursued doctoral studies in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Burgundy.

Grichka earned a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1999, and Igor followed with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 2002.

Both, however, received the lowest possible passing grade of honorable, rather than the more distinguished très honorable.

The real storm began when their dissertations and related papers were criticized for lacking scientific value.

The so-called “Bogdanov Affair” erupted in 2002 when physicists began questioning whether their published works in respected journals were coherent at all, with some describing them as meaningless jargon that had nevertheless passed through peer review.

Rumors circulated online that the brothers had orchestrated a deliberate hoax to expose weaknesses in the scientific publishing system.

The Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) later concluded that their theses held no genuine scientific merit.

While the brothers defended their work vigorously, the incident damaged their reputation in academic circles.

The controversy sparked heated debates in the physics community about peer review, credibility, and the blurred lines between science communication and pseudoscience.

Internet Memes and Crypto Fame

In their later years, the Bogdanoffs transitioned from French television personalities to global internet icons.

They became the subject of countless memes, especially within cryptocurrency communities, where they were humorously depicted as shadowy masterminds controlling financial markets.

Outlets like CNN, Business Insider, and The Daily Telegraph reported on their meme status, noting that the brothers leaned into the joke, even claiming that they had predicted the rise of cryptocurrency decades earlier on Temps X.

Deaths

The Bogdanoff twins were both hospitalized, at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, in critical condition on 15 December 2021, after contracting COVID-19.

Grichka died on 28 December, and Igor on 3 January 2022. They were 72 and both intentionally unvaccinated.

The funeral for both twins was held on 10 January 2022, in the Church of the Madeleine, in Paris, France.

(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / IMDB / Pinterest).