Xavier, 38, was a brilliant man, curious about everything and highly cultured, with an insatiable thirst to learn and share his knowledge. He had chosen to be a guide for the youngest children in French schools in Guyana, Russia and Kenya, where he had just taken what should have been his last position abroad before returning to France to get married. He devoted 12 years of his life to the service of the National Education, eventually losing his life for it.