Michel du Cille, a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, died Thursday while on assignment for the Washington Post in Liberia of an apparent heart attack. He was 58.
The 26-year veteran of the Washington Post was working on a project in the Salala district of Liberia’s Bong County. He was returning on foot from a village when he collapsed, according to the Post. It was a two-hour drive from where he collapsed to the nearest hospital. Du Cille was declared dead upon arrival.
“Michel had returned to Liberia on Tuesday after a four-week break that included showing his photographs at the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia,” said Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron in a statement. “We are all heartbroken. We have lost a beloved colleague and one of the world’s most accomplished photographers.”
While du Cille was covering the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, a spokesperson for the paper told CNN there was no connection between the Ebola outbreak and du Cille’s death.
“Michel died at 58 doing the work he loved. He was completely devoted to the story of Ebola, and he was determined to stay on the story despite its risks. That is the sort of courage and passion he displayed throughout his career,” Baron wrote in a memo distributed to staff members at the Post.
Du Cille’s interest in photography came early, as his father worked in the newspaper industry as a reporter. He studied journalism at Indiana University and Ohio University, achieving his Master’s degree.
His career began in 1979 when he worked as an intern at The Louisville Courier Journal/Times. The following year, he interned at The Miami Herald, joining the staff in 1981. He earned his first Pulitzer in 1985, sharing it with fellow photographer Carol Guzy, for coverage of the eruption of a volcano in Colombia. In 1988 he won his second for a photo series he did on cocaine addiction, photographing addicts in a Miami housing project.
Du Cille earned his third Pulitzer in 2008 while working for the Post, sharing it with reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull for their series on veterans’ care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Their work exposed mistreatment of wounded soldiers leading to federal reforms.