Benny Lévy (aka Pierre Victor) was a philosopher, political activist and author. A political figure of May 1968 in France, he has been the disciple and last personal secretary of Jean-Paul Sartre from 1974 to 1980. Along with him, he helped founding the French newspaper Libération in 1972.
After having encountered the Jewish philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas in 1978, he operated a return to tradition. He then founded the Institut d'études lévinassie...
more
Benny Lévy (aka Pierre Victor) was a philosopher, political activist and author. A political figure of May 1968 in France, he has been the disciple and last personal secretary of Jean-Paul Sartre from 1974 to 1980. Along with him, he helped founding the French newspaper Libération in 1972.
After having encountered the Jewish philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas in 1978, he operated a return to tradition. He then founded the Institut d'études lévinassiennes in Jerusalem with Alain Finkielkraut and Bernard-Henri Lévy.
Benny Lévy is known for his unusual itinerary from Maoism to Judaism, or "from Mao to Moses", which was also followed by a few other philosophers of his generation.
Born in Egypt, Benny Lévy grew up without experiencing Judaism as a faith. He left Egypt after the 1956 war and immigrated to Belgium then France with his family. His elder half-brother, Eddy Lévy, stayed in Egypt, converted to Islam in 1956 and changed his name to Adil Rifaat.
Benny Lévy soon proved to be a...
less
