Bernard-Henri Lévy

Bernard-Henri Lévy is a philosopher and writer whose works deal broadly with issues of human dignity. In word and deed he carries on the tradition of the engaged intellectual established by André Malraux, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. In his first visit to the emerging Bangladesh as a correspondent for the daily newspaper Combat; in his investigation in Pakistan into the death of Daniel Pearl; in repeated visits to Sarajevo under siege by Serb militias; in his immersion in the "forgotten wars" of Africa and Latin America; in interviews with survivors of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda and of the Armenian genocide; in his involvement, from the very first, in the Libyan people's struggle against Khaddafi; and, most recently, at the side of the pro-European Ukrainians to whom he pays tribute in his play, Hotel Europe, Bernard-Henri Lévy has ceaselessly devoted his talent, energy, and courage to causes he believed just. A philosophy graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, a writer, novelist, journalist, intellectual agitator, filmmaker, activist, and founder of the review La Règle du Jeu, BHL is a columnist for Le Point, Corriere della Sera, El Pais (Madrid), as well as other publications for which he provides weekly commentary on politics, culture, and the arts—among them the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Haaretz, Aftenposten, Espressen de Stockolm, and New Republic. A particular preoccupation of his work is the idea of evil. For BHL, the twentieth century was the century of evil: Fascism, totalitarianism, terrorism, and nativism are the successive forms in which that evil has appeared—and continues to appear in the early decades of the twenty-first century.

ARTICLES BY: Bernard-Henri Lévy

November 21, 2018 9:02 am

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: ‘Looking for Europe’ Off Broadway

The East Village, November 5, 2018. It’s the eve of the midterm elections, with such a lot at stake for the United States. It’s also my birthday....

August 27, 2018 6:49 am

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In the Wake of Trump, McCain Shines as a True American Knight

The death of John McCain, the senator from Arizona, has unleashed waves of emotion in the United States and across the world. That emotion is tied...

July 3, 2018 4:37 pm

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: Simone Veil, Emmanuel Macron, and the Panthéon

For those who are old enough to have lived through both events, the comparison was undoubtedly remarkable: the induction of Simone Veil in France’s Panthéon,...

August 15, 2017 3:30 pm

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Maduro: Between Castro and Pinochet

Venezuela once was one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries. The country sat on the world’s largest oil reserves, according to OPEC. Without always having...

July 24, 2017 2:28 pm

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: The Poverty and Shame of Le Monde Diplomatique

Le Monde diplomatique, which has no editorial connection with Le Monde, is not well known outside France. In a way, that is too bad, because...

March 13, 2017 11:56 pm

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: An Address to the Kurdish Nation

The following speech by famed French humanitarian and philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy was delivered on March 7, 2017, in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on the occasion of the...

January 18, 2017 3:42 pm

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: A Rock Called Zion (EXCERPT)

The following is an excerpt from French philosopher and activist Bernard-Henri Lévy's newly released book, The Genius of Judaism, which delves into the meaning of being a...

January 5, 2017 5:14 am

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: Israel, Obama and the United Nations

I am an unwavering proponent of the two-state solution in the Middle East. And I continue to think that, even battered and bruised, abandoned by some,...

December 25, 2016 5:16 pm

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: The Shame of Aleppo

"The pyramid of martyrs haunts the earth." Remembering Aleppo, this line from René Char’s wartime poem comes back to me like a slap in the...

October 30, 2016 8:58 am

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: With the Peshmerga, on the Front Line in the Battle for Mosul

Editor's note: Bernard-Henri Lévy’s documentary, "Peshmerga," was an Official Selection at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. He and his team are back in Iraqi Kurdistan,...

October 6, 2016 8:21 am

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The Epitaph of Shimon Peres

“Man is a beggar when he thinks, and a prince when he dreams.” I do not know if Shimon Peres was fond of Hölderlin’s poetry. And it...

October 2, 2016 12:00 pm

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Full Transcript of Bernard-Henri Lévy Address at Commemoration of Babi Yar Massacre in Kiev

  Below is the full transcript of remarks delivered by Bernard-Henri Lévy, special representative of French President François Hollande, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of...

August 4, 2016 8:52 am

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: A Long-Awaited and Critical Appeal Falls Short

On July 31, forty-two men and women describing themselves as “French and Muslim” published a call to fellow French Muslims to “assume our responsibilities” and...

July 5, 2016 8:24 am

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Bernard-Henri Lévy: The Humble Nobility of Elie Wiesel

It begins in a world now gone, lying at the borders of Ruthenia, Bukovina and Galicia, forgotten places that were the glory of the Habsburg...