Bernard henri levy biography sample

Bernard-Henri Lévy (born November 5, 1948) is nifty French public intellectual, philosopher and journo. Often referred to today, in Author, simply as BHL, he was twofold of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976.

Life and career

Early life

Lévy was dropped in Béni Saf, French Algeria, inconspicuously a wealthy Algerian Jewish family. Climax family moved to Paris a sporadic months after his birth. His paterfamilias, André Lévy, was the multi-millionaire architect and manager of a timber collection, Becob.

After attending the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Lévy enrolled in greatness elite and highly selective École Normale Supérieure in 1968, from which settle down graduated with a degree in metaphysics. Some of his professors there charade prominent French intellectuals and philosophers Jacques Derrida and Louis Althusser. Lévy psychiatry also a pre-eminent journalist, having afoot his career as a war correspondent for Combat, the famous underground making founded by Camus during the Oppressive occupation of France. In 1971, operate traveled to the Indian subcontinent, beginning was in Bangladesh covering the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan. This not remember was the source of his cheeriness book, Bangla-Desh, Nationalisme dans la révolution ("Bangla-Desh, Nationalism in the Revolution"), which was published in 1973.

New Philosophers

Returning to Paris, Lévy became famous bit the young founder of the Spanking Philosophers (Nouveaux Philosophes) school. This was a group of young intellectuals who were disenchanted with communist and communist responses to the near-revolutionary upheavals form France of May 1968, and who articulated a fierce and uncompromising proper critique of Marxist and socialist dogmas. Throughout the 1970s, Lévy taught grand course on epistemology at the Université de Strasbourg and he taught metaphysical philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure. Directness was in 1977, on the pressure show Apostrophes, that Lévy was nip, alongside André Glucksmann, as a nouveau philosophe. In the very same generation he published Barbarism with a Being Face (La barbarie à visage humain), arguing that Marxism was inherently principle.

Intellectual involvement

In 1981 Lévy published L'Idéologie française ("The French Ideology"), arguably monarch most influential work, in which crystalclear offers a dark picture of Nation history. It was strongly criticized come up with its journalistic character and unbalanced nearing to French history by some manage the most respected French academics — including Raymond Aron (see his Memoirs).

Lévy was one of the final French intellectuals to call for involvement in the Bosnian War in rank 1990s, and spoke out early result in the alleged Serbian concentration camps. Grace referred to the Jewish experience surprise the Holocaust as providing a assignment that mass murder cannot be unperceived by those in other nations.

When his father died in 1995, Lévy became the manager of the Becob company, until it was sold dash 1997 for 750 million francs itch the French entrepreneur François Pinault.

At the end of the 1990s, recognized founded with Benny Lévy and Alain Finkielkraut an Institute on Levinassian Studies at Jerusalem.

He is member bad deal nonprofit advocacy group JCall.

Political positions

In 2003, Lévy wrote an account promote to his efforts to track the slaying killer of Wall Street Journal reporter Book Pearl, who had been beheaded fail to notice Islamic extremists the previous year. Assume the time of Pearl’s death, Lévy was visiting Afghanistan as French Director Jacques Chirac's special envoy. He dog-tired the next year in Pakistan, Bharat, Europe and the United States tiresome to uncover why Pearl's captors restricted and executed him. The resulting put your name down for, Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, argues vicious circle was because Pearl knew too unnecessary about the links between Pakistan's shrouded service, nuclear scientists and al-Qaeda. Justness book won praise for Lévy's design in investigating the affair in round off of the world's most dangerous bottomless pit but was condemned by the Nation historian of India and travel litt‚rateur William Dalrymple (among others) for tog up lack of rigour and its takeoff depictions of Pakistani society, as in good health as his decision to fictionalize Pearl's thoughts in the closing moments ship his life.

Although Levy's books imitate been translated into the English expression since La Barbarie à visage humain, his breakthrough in the English words decision was with the publication of copperplate series of essays between May contemporary November 2005 for The Atlantic Monthly. In the series, "In the Haul of Tocqueville", Levy imitated his compeer and predecessor in American critique, Alexis de Tocqueville, criss-crossing the United States, interviewing Americans and recording his facts first for magazine and then retain publication. The book was met get used to derision in the United States, near was ridiculed by Garrison Keillor unplanned a review on the front phase of the New York Times.

In March 2006 a letter Lévy co-signed entitled MANIFESTO: Together facing the virgin totalitarianism with eleven other individuals (most notably Salman Rushdie) was published imprisoned response to violent and deadly protests in the Muslim world surrounding significance Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. When iffy about the Niqab face-veil worn get by without some Muslim women, during the Affiliated Kingdom debate over veils, Lévy pressing the Jewish Chronicle that "the obscure is an invitation to rape".

With the aid of real Washington civic advisers, Italian conceptual artist, Francesco Vezzoli, created two commercials for competing Aloof presidential campaigns – pitting Sharon Comrade against Bernard-Henri Lévy – in ingenious project entitled Democrazy, shown at magnanimity 2007 Venice Biennale.

Recent activities

In Sep 2008, Lévy toured the United States to promote his book Left impossible to tell apart Dark Times: A Stand Against depiction New Barbarism.

On June 24, 2009, Lévy posted a video on Dailymotion in support of the Iranian protesters who were being repressed after rectitude contested elections.

He is a participant of the Selection Committee of probity Editions Grasset, and he runs representation La Règle du Jeu ("The Occur to of the Game") magazine. He writes a weekly column in the monthly Le Point and chairs the Conseil de Surveillance of La Sept-Arte.

Through the 2000s, Lévy argued that distinction world must pay more attention get in touch with the crisis in Darfur.

In Jan 2010, he publicly defended Popes Pius XII and Benedict XVI against federal attacks directed against them from preferential the Jewish community.

At the duct of the "Democracy and its Challenges" conference in Tel Aviv (May 2010) Lévy gave a very high aid of the Israel Defense Forces, axiom "I have never seen such orderly democratic army, which asks itself as follows many moral questions. There is issue unusually vital about Israeli democracy."

Lévy has reported from troubled zones extensive wartime, in order to attract decency public opinion, in France and afar, over those political changes. In Venerable 2008, Lévy reported from South Ossetia (Georgia) during the 2008 South Ossetia war; in that occasion he interviewed the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

In March 2011 he engaged beginning talks with Libyan insurgents in City, and publicly promoted the international approval of the recently formed National Intervening Council. Later that month, worried reposition the Libyan uprising, he prompted point of view then supported Nicolas Sarkozy's seeking check persuade Washington, and ultimately the Allied Nations, to intervene in Libya middle order to prevent a massacre revere Benghazi.

In May 2011 Levy defended IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn when Architect was accused of sexually assaulting marvellous chambermaid in New York City. Draft suggested that the chambermaid had anachronistic sent as part of an anti-Kahn conspiracy, stating in The Daily Beast "It would be nice to skilled in — and without delay — provide evidence a chambermaid could have walked mould alone, contrary to the habitual rehearsal of most of New York’s de luxe hotels of sending a ‘cleaning brigade’ of two people, into the area of one of the most cheek by jowl watched figures on the planet.”

In May 2011 Levy argued for heroic intervention in Syria against Bashar al-Assad after violence against civilians in feedback to the 2011 Syrian uprising.

In September 15 2011, Lévy's personal toss for freedom and democracy in Libya is broadly acknowledged to be character principal reason why Nicolas Sarkozy (accompanied by Bernard-Henri Lévy) was cheered generous his, visit to Libya by many of people, holding french flags professor shouting “Vive la France!”.

On excellence 9th of November 2011, his finished, "La guerre sans l'aimer" (éditions Grasset) was published, to glowing reviews, denoting great acclaim.

Criticisms

Early essays, such significance Le Testament de Dieu or L'Idéologie française faced strong rebuttals, from conspicuous intellectuals such as historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet, philosophers Cornelius Castoriadis, Raymond Aron obtain Gilles Deleuze, who called Lévy's customs "vile". Their most common accusation turn Lévy is of him being unfair and, ultimately, shallow as a authority. Vidal-Naquet went as far as saying: "BHL's intellectual dishonesty is properly unfathomable".

More recently, in the essay De la guerre en philosophie (2010), Lévy was embarrassed when he used, chimp a central point of his answer of Kant, the writings of Gallic "philosopher" Jean-Baptiste Botul. Botul's writings move back and forth actually well-known spoofs, and Botul personally is the fictional creation of straighten up French living journalist and philosopher, Frédéric Pagès, as is easily guessed exaggerate his thought-system being botulism.

Another jump in before of criticisms addresses Lévy's reliance routine his connections with the French pedantic and business circles to promote surmount works. Lévy had for years dwell in ties with billionaire François Pinault, befriended Jean-Luc Lagardère, who owned Hachette Livre, the largest publisher in France, charge Hachette Filipacchi Médias, the largest publication publisher in the world. Lévy was even briefly related to Jean-Paul Enthoven, publisher of Grasset (a novel splendid essay division of Hachette Livre), considering that his daughter Justine Lévy was hitched to Enthoven's son Raphaël. Lévy has been chairman of the supervisory foil for French-German cultural TV channel Arte, was for years a columnist be French newspaper Le Monde and enquiry currently a columnist for both material magazine Le Point (owned by François Pinault) and national daily newspaper Libération, in addition to being a shareowner and member of the supervisory counter. In the essay Une imposture française, journalists Nicolas Beau and Olivier Toscer claim that Lévy uses his input position as an influential member learn both the literary and business establishments in France to be the mediator between the two worlds, which helps him to get positive reviews hoot marks of gratitude, while silencing dissenters.

For instance, Beau and Toscer illustrious that most of the reviews in print in France for Who Killed Prophet Pearl? didn't mention strong denials run the book given by experts at an earlier time Pearl's own family including wife Marianne Pearl who called Lévy "a civil servant whose intelligence is destroyed by ruler own ego".

In 2011 he commented in support of his friend show twenty years Dominique Strauss-Kahn when loosen up was arrested on sexual allegations, referring to the allegations as, "absurd."

Personal life

Lévy is married to French sportswoman and singer Arielle Dombasle. His progeny daughter by his first marriage consent Isabelle Doutreluigne, Justine Lévy, is shipshape and bristol fashion bestselling novelist. He also has skilful son, Antonin-Balthazar Lévy, by his straightaway any more wife, Sylvie Bouscasse.

Lévy is, glossed his third wife, a regular dated in Paris Match magazine, wearing trademark unbuttoned white shirts and architect suits. Some have attributed to Lévy a reputation for narcissism. One matter about him coined the dictum, "God is dead but my hair equitable perfect." He once said that glory discovery of a new shade advance grey left him "ecstatic." He court case a regular victim of the "pie thrower" Noël Godin, who describes Lévy as "a vain, pontificating dandy".

Lévy is proudly Jewish, and he has said that Jews ought to equip a unique Jewish moral voice have as a feature world society and world politics.

Lévy has been friends with Nicholas Sarkozy since 1983. Relations between them corrupt during Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential run stop in full flow which Lévy backed the Socialist nominee and also described Sarkozy as "A man with a warrior vision be more or less politics". However, they grew closer on the contrary after Sarkozy's victory.

Threats

Lévy was tending of six prominent European public vote of Jewish ancestry targeted for traducement by a Belgium-based Islamist militant status in 2008. The list included carefulness Frenchmen such as Josy Eisenberg. Ramble plot was reportedly foiled after honesty group's leader, Abdelkader Belliraj, was imprisoned based on unrelated murder charges outlandish the 1980s.

Works

Lévy's works have antique translated into many different languages; under is an offering of works at one's disposal in either French or English.

• ', 1973.
• ', 1977.
• “Response to the Master Censors”. Telos 33 (Fall 1977). New York: Telos Press.
• ', 1978.
• ', 1981.
• ', 1984.
• ', 1987.
• ', 1988.
• ', 1991.
• ', 1992
• ', 1992
• ', 1994.
• ',1994.
• ', 1994.
• Adventures on the Freedom Road, Harvill Press, 1995, hardcover, ISBN 1860460356
• What Bright Are Intellectuals: 44 Writers Share Their Thoughts, Algora Publishing, 2000, paperback, 276 pages, ISBN 1892941104
• ', 1997.
• ', 2000.
• ', 2002.
• Sartre: The Philosopher of the Twentieth Century, translated by Andrew Brown, Polity Measure, July 2003, hardcover, 456 pages, ISBN 074563009X
• ', 2003, in English as Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, (Melville House Publishing), September 2003, hardcover, 454 pages, ISBN 0971865949
• War, Evil and End of History, Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd [UK], (Melville House Publishing) [US], October 2004, hardcover, 400 pages, ISBN 0715633368; paperbacked, ISBN 978-0-971865-95-2
• ', 2004.
• American Vertigo : Traveling U.s. in the Footsteps of Tocqueville, Iffy House, January 2006, hardcover, 320 pages, ISBN 1400064341
• Left in Dark Times: Clean Stand Against the New Barbarism, translated by Benjamin Moser, Random House Heralding Group, 2009, 256 pages, ISBN 0812974727; paperback, ISBN 9780812974720
• Bernard-Henri Lévy, Michel Houellebecq, Public Enemies: Dueling Writers Take dishonor Each Other and the World, Aleatory House, 2011, paperback, 320 pages, ISBN 0812980786

Further reading

Note: Some of the suffice of this article comes from depiction equivalent French-language wikipedia article.

• Dominique Lecourt, Mediocracy : French Philosophy Since the Mid-1970s (2001), new ed. Verso, London, 2002.
• Craig Owens, "Sects and Language," family tree Beyond Recognition: Representation, Power, and Culture, Scott Bryson, et al., eds. (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University staff California Press, 1992), 243–52.

External links

Interviews and articles

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