Roger Garaudy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roger Garaudy
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| Senator for Seine | |
| In office 26 April 1959 – 31 October 1962 |
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| Member of the National Assembly for Seine |
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| In office 2 January 1956 – 8 December 1958 |
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| Member of the National Assembly for Tarn |
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| In office 21 October 1945 – 4 July 1951 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 July 1913 Marseille, France |
| Died | 13 June 2012 (aged 98) Chennevières-sur-Marne, France |
| Political party | French Communist Party (1933–1970) |
| Awards | King Faisal International Prize |
Roger Garaudy (17 July 1913 – 13 June 2012) was a French thinker and writer. He was also a French resistance fighter during World War II. For many years, he was a member of the French Communist Party. Later in his life, he converted to Islam. Garaudy became known for his controversial views, especially for questioning the number of victims in the Holocaust. This led to legal action against him in France.
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Early Life and Education
Roger Garaudy was born in Marseille, France. His parents were Catholic and worked hard for a living. When he was 14, Garaudy changed his religion to Protestantism.
During World War II, he fought for France. He was even given a special medal called the Croix de Guerre for his bravery. After being held as a prisoner of war in Algeria, Garaudy joined the French Resistance. He helped the resistance by working for their radio and newspaper.
Political Career
Garaudy joined the French Communist Party in 1933. By the mid-1940s, he was seen as an important speaker for the party. He moved up in the party ranks quickly. In 1945, he became part of the party's main leadership group. He stayed in important positions for 28 years.
Even while in politics, Garaudy remained a Christian. He later became Catholic again. Eventually, he converted to Islam. A famous French religious leader, the Abbé Pierre, was his friend. Abbé Pierre supported Garaudy even when his ideas became very controversial.
In 1970, Garaudy was removed from the Communist Party. This happened because he disagreed with the party's views. He had criticized their actions regarding student protests and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Some people called his ideas "revisionist," meaning he wanted to change core communist beliefs. However, he had supported the invasion of Hungary in 1956.
Academic Life and Teaching
Roger Garaudy earned a high-level degree in philosophy in 1953. His main study was about how we gain knowledge. He also wrote about freedom and how it relates to Marxism.
From 1962 to 1965, Garaudy taught at the University of Clermont-Ferrand. He later taught in Poitiers from 1969 to 1972. His main area of study was about the ideas behind revolutionary politics.
Changing Views and Beliefs
In the 1940s, Garaudy disagreed with the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Garaudy felt that Sartre's ideas about freedom didn't consider real-world issues. He thought Sartre's writings showed only sad or broken people.
Garaudy's strong belief in communism began to waver in 1956. This was after Nikita Khrushchev gave a famous speech criticizing past Soviet leaders. After this, Garaudy started to combine different ideas in his thinking. He wanted Marxism to be more open to other ways of thinking.
Around 1980, Garaudy became interested in Islam. He read a book by Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya. Garaudy met Gaddafi several times. He officially converted to Islam in Geneva.
In a book from 1983, Garaudy wrote about Zionism. He described it as an idea that separates people. He claimed it even encouraged antisemitism (hatred of Jewish people) to reach its goals.
Controversial Claims About History
In 1996, Garaudy published a book called The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics. In this book, he wrote about "the myth of the six million" Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This claim went against French law, which prohibits denying the Holocaust.
Because of his book, a French court banned its publication in 1998. Garaudy was also ordered to pay a large fine. He tried to appeal this decision to the European Court of Human Rights. However, his appeal was rejected. At his hearing, Garaudy said his book was not supporting Nazism. He argued it was about how the Israeli government used the Holocaust as a reason for its actions.
Garaudy v. France
Garaudy challenged the French court's decision. He argued that his book was a political work. He said it criticized the policies of Israel and did not deny that the Nazis committed terrible crimes. He felt his right to free speech was being limited.
However, the European Court of Human Rights disagreed. They ruled that Garaudy had denied historical facts in his book. They said his book was not a research work. The court decided that the French ruling was fair. It was not a violation of Garaudy's right to free speech.
Support from Iran
In Iran, many people supported Garaudy. Over 160 members of the Iranian parliament and 600 journalists signed a petition for him. In April 1998, Iran's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, met Garaudy. Khamenei criticized Western countries. He said they condemned Nazi actions but accepted what he called "Nazi-like behavior" from Zionists.
The Iranian president at the time, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, also spoke about Garaudy. He claimed that Hitler killed far fewer Jews than six million. He said Garaudy's "crime" was questioning "Zionist propaganda." Another Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, called Garaudy "a thinker" who was put on trial just for publishing research that the West disliked.
In 2006, Garaudy was too unwell to attend a conference in Tehran, Iran. But he reportedly sent a video message. In it, he supported Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's view that Israel should no longer exist.
Death and Legacy
Roger Garaudy passed away in Chennevières-sur-Marne, France, on June 13, 2012. He was 98 years old.
A Tunisian thinker named Rached Ghannouchi was inspired by Garaudy in the early 1980s. Ghannouchi read a translation of Garaudy's book about women. This influenced Ghannouchi to write his own work about women's rights in the Islamic movement.
Awards and Honours
- Croix de Guerre (for bravery in war)
- Médaille de la déportation et de l'internement pour faits de Résistance (for resistance activities)
- King Faisal International Prize for Services to Islam (1986)
- Prix Kadhafi des droits de l'homme (2002)
See also
- Robert Faurisson
- Pierre Guillaume
