MONTPELLIER, (France): Top French theatre director Alain Francon was stabbed in the throat Wednesday outside his hotel in the Mediterranean city of Montpellier, officials said, in a daylight attack the details of which remain unclear.

Francon, 76, has been teaching at the National School of Dramatic Arts since mid-February and living in the city’s historic central district, a source close to the inquiry said.

He was seriously wounded in the attack and collapsed in the street before emergency responders arrived and took him to a nearby hospital.

Francon is one of the country’s best-known directors, having founded the avant-garde Theatre Eclate (“Shattered Theatre”) troupe in the Alpine town of Annecy in the 1970s.