POLICE have confirmed that the unidentified body washed up on to Meirionnydd’s seashore is that of and internationally acclaimed French translator.

On Friday morning, 9 June, North Wales Police were called to Tywyn after a body was reported on the town’s beach.

The body is now confirmed to be Bernard Hoepffner, from Dieulefit, in Southern France.

Mr Hoepffner, one of France’s most renowned literary translators, went missing off St Davids Head, Pembrokeshire on 6 May.

Despite a large air, land and sea search only a coat was recovered from the scene where he was last spotted.

Mr Hoepffner is known to have translated works by George Orwell, Mark Twain and Herman Melville, as well as contemporary works. He was also famous for his own literary work.

He lived in St Davids in the 1980s, working at an old German submarine surveillance site.

His brother, Jacques, told a French reporter that he believed his brother had been visiting old haunts when he was caught by a wave and swept out to sea.

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police, who are dealing with the case, said: “We can confirm the body found washed ashore at Tywyn beach in south Gwynedd is that of Bernard Hoepffner, a resident of Dieulefit in Southern France.

“His next of kin have been informed.

“Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time.”