Bernard-Henri Lévy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy in 2024
Born	Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (1948-11-05) 5 November 1948 (age 76) Béni Saf, Oran, French Algeria
Alma mater	École normale supérieure
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Doutreluigne (divorced) Sylvie Bouscasse (divorced) Arielle Dombasle ​ (m. 1993)​
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Nouveaux Philosophes Liberal internationalism
Institutions	University of Strasbourg École normale supérieure
Main interests	Political philosophy
Notable ideas	Criticism of red fascism

Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (born 5 November 1948) is a well-known French writer and thinker. Many people in France simply call him BHL. In 1976, he became one of the main leaders of a group called the "Nouveaux Philosophes". Over the years, his ideas, political actions, and writings have sometimes caused public discussions.

Life and Career

Early Life and Beginnings

Lévy was born in 1948 in Béni Saf, French Algeria. His family was a wealthy Sephardic Jewish family. They moved to Paris a few months after he was born. His father, André Lévy, started a successful timber company and became very rich.

In 1971, Lévy became a war reporter for a newspaper called Combat. He covered the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan. The next year, he worked for the new Bangladesh Ministry of Economy and Planning. His experiences in Bangladesh led to his first book, Bangla-Desh, Nationalism in the Revolution, published in 1973. He returned to Bangladesh in 2014 to launch the first Bengali translation of his book.

The New Philosophers Movement

After returning to France, Lévy taught epistemology (the study of knowledge) at the University of Strasbourg. He also taught philosophy at the École normale supérieure. He helped start the New Philosophers (Nouveaux Philosophes) group. This group was made up of young thinkers who were not happy with communist and socialist ideas after the big protests in France in May 1968. They strongly criticized some of the old ideas of Marxist and socialist thinking.

Important Books by Lévy

In the Footsteps of Tocqueville

Lévy's books have been translated into English for a long time. However, he became more widely known in the United States after writing a series of essays for The Atlantic Monthly in 2005. These essays were later put together into a book called In the Footsteps of Tocqueville. For this book, Lévy traveled across the United States, talking to Americans and writing down what he saw. He often compared his observations to those of an earlier famous writer, Alexis de Tocqueville.

The Spirit of Judaism

In February 2016, Lévy published a book in French called L'Esprit du Judaisme. An English version, The Genius of Judaism, came out in January 2017. This book explores the ideas of humanism, ethics, and politics within Judaism. It also discusses issues related to Israel and anti-Semitism in France today.

Notable Films by Lévy

Bernard-Henri Lévy has also directed several documentary films.

Peshmerga

Lévy has been interested in the Kurdish people's cause since the early 1990s. On 16 May 2016, his documentary film, Peshmerga, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The film looks at the Iraqi Civil War through the eyes of the Peshmerga fighters. These are Kurdish fighters who are armed by Western countries and fight against groups like Daesh. The film includes images taken on location, some with the help of drones. It also shows the women's regiments of the Peshmerga army.

The film is part of a series where Lévy searches for an "enlightened Islam." He believes he found it in Kurdistan, where different religious groups live freely together.

The Will to See

This documentary, released in 2022, follows Lévy as he visits several countries. He documents various difficult situations and humanitarian problems happening around the world.

Glory to the Heroes

Since 2022, Lévy has made four documentaries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These films are Why Ukraine, Slava Ukraini, Glory to the Heroes, and Our War.

Political Actions and Public Involvement

1980s and 1990s

In 1981, Lévy published L'Idéologie française ("The French Ideology"). In this book, he presented a critical view of French history. Some academics criticized it for being too journalistic and not balanced enough.

In the 1990s, Lévy called for European and American countries to get involved in the Bosnian War. He spoke about the prison camps holding Bosniaks and said that people should not ignore mass killings.

2000s

Throughout the 2000s, Lévy argued that the world needed to pay more attention to the crisis in Darfur.

In August 2008, Lévy reported from South Ossetia, Georgia, during the 2008 Russia-Georgian War. He interviewed the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

In 2009, Lévy signed a petition supporting film director Roman Polanski, asking for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland.

2010s

Bernard-Henri Lévy at Tel Aviv University

In January 2010, Lévy publicly defended Popes Pius XII and Benedict XVI against criticism from within the Jewish community.

In May 2010, at a conference in Tel Aviv, Lévy praised the Israel Defense Forces. He said he had "never seen such a democratic army, which asks itself so many moral questions."

In March 2011, he met with Libyan rebels in Benghazi. He publicly supported the international recognition of the new National Transitional Council. Later that month, he encouraged Nicolas Sarkozy to persuade the United Nations to intervene in Libya to prevent further violence.

In May 2011, Lévy argued for military action in Syria against Bashar al-Assad because of violence against civilians during the 2011 Syrian uprising. He repeated this view in August 2013.

His book, La guerre sans l'aimer, which tells the story of his experiences during the Libyan uprising, was published on 9 November 2011.

In 2013, Lévy criticized the international community for their actions during the Bosnian genocide.

Lévy traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, during the Euromaidan protests in February 2014, actively supporting the events. In February 2015, he performed his play Hotel Europa at the National Opera of Ukraine to mark the first anniversary of the Euromaidan.

On 5 June 2018, he performed his one-man play Last Exit before Brexit in London. This play was a new version of Hotel Europa and strongly argued that Brexit should not happen.

In December 2019, Lévy visited the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. There, he met with Kurdish fighters led by General Mazloum Abdi.

2020s

In July 2020, Lévy visited Misrata Airport in Libya and met with some government officials. His visit was met with protests in some areas.

Regarding the Israeli actions in Gaza, Lévy stated in the French newspaper Le Figaro that "the death of civilians in Gaza is not a massacre."

In February 2025, Lévy said that Europe should not rely only on the United States and NATO for defense. He suggested that Europe should fund and have its own army, led by Europeans.

In June 2025, the New York Times described Lévy as a "French author and intellectual who has the ear of Mr. Macron." The newspaper noted Lévy's advice to Macron that a Palestinian state could only be considered after Hamas has stopped fighting and its leaders have left Gaza.

Personal Life

Lévy has been married three times. His oldest daughter, Justine Lévy, is a successful novelist. He has a son, Antonin-Balthazar Lévy, from his second marriage. He is currently married to French actress and singer Arielle Dombasle.

Lévy is Jewish. He believes that Jewish people should offer a unique moral voice in society and politics.

Lévy has been friends with Nicolas Sarkozy since 1983. Their relationship changed during Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign, when Lévy supported a different candidate. However, they became closer again after Sarkozy won.

In 2004, his wealth was estimated at 150 million euros. He inherited most of his money from his parents and also made investments.

Written Works

Lévy's books have been translated into many languages. Here are some of his works available in French or English:

• Bangla-Desh, Nationalism in the Revolution, 1973
• Barbarism with a Human Face, 1977
• The Testament of God, 1978
• The French Ideology, 1981
• The Devil in the Head, 1984
• Praise of Intellectuals, 1987
• The Last Days of Charles Baudelaire, 1988
• Adventures on the Freedom Road: The French Intellectuals in the 20th Century, 1991
• The Last Judgment, 1992
• Piero della Francesca, 1992
• Men and Women, 1994, with Françoise Giroud
• Dangerous Purity, 1994
• What Good Are Intellectuals: 44 Writers Share Their Thoughts, 2000
• Comedy, 1997
• Sartre: The Philosopher of the Twentieth Century, 2000
• War, Evil and End of History, 2002
• Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, 2003
• Recidivism, 2004
• American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville, 2006
• Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism, 2007
• Public Enemies: Dueling Writers Take on Each Other and the World, 2008, with Michel Houellebecq
• On War in Philosophy, 2010
• The War Without Loving It, 2011
• The Genius of Judaism, 2016
• The Empire and the Five Kings: America's Abdication and the Fate of the World, 2018
• This Virus That Makes You Crazy: Essay, 2020
• On the Road of Nameless Men, 2021
• The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope, 2021
• Israel Alone, 2024
• White Night, 2025

Filmography

Bernard-Henri Lévy has been involved in several films, both as an actor and a director.

• Aurélien, directed by Michel Favart, 1978, actor
• Partir, revenir, directed by Claude Lelouch, 1985, actor (as himself)
• Bosna !, 1994, director
• Day and Night, 1997, director, screenwriter and co-producer
• Serbia, Year Zero, directed by Goran Marković, 2001, actor
• The Oath of Tobruk, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, documentary, 2012
• Peshmerga, director, documentary, 2016
• The Battle of Mosul, director, documentary, 2017
• Princess Europe, directed by Camille Lotteau, documentary, 2020
• The Will to See, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, documentary, 2021
• Why Ukraine, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussell, documentary, 2022
• Slava Ukraini, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, documentary, 2023
• Glory to the Heroes, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, documentary, 2023
• Our War, directed by Bernard-Henri Lévy and Marc Roussel, documentary, 2025

See also

In Spanish: Bernard-Henri Lévy para niños