Pierre Vidal-Naquet
| Pierre Vidal-Naquet | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pierre Emmanuel Vidal-Naquet 23 July 1930 Paris, France |
| Died | 29 July 2006 (aged 76) Nice, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Fields | Ancient history |
| Influences |
Claude Lévi-Strauss Cornelius Castoriadis |
Pierre Emmanuel Vidal-Naquet (French: [vidal nakɛ]; 23 July 1930 – 29 July 2006) was a French historian who began teaching at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in 1969.
Vidal-Naquet was a specialist in the study of Ancient Greece, but was also interested (and deeply involved) in contemporary history, particularly the Algerian War (1954–62), during which he opposed the use of torture by the French Army, as well as Jewish history. Having participated with Michel Foucault and Jean-Marie Domenach in the founding of the Groupe d'information sur les prisons (GIP), one of the first French new social movements, he criticized negationism. Vidal-Naquet, who never abandoned his fascination with Antiquity, was also a supporter of Middle East peace efforts.
Vidal-Naquet’s family belonged to the Sephardic Jewish community rooted in the Comtat Venaissin (Carpentras, Avignon). He was born in Paris, and he was raised in bourgeois, Republican and secular environment. His father Lucien was a lawyer, of “Dreyfusard” temperament, who quickly entered the Resistance in order to avoid exile. In June 1940, the family moved to Marseille. Arrested by the Gestapo on 15 May 1944, Vidal-Naquet’s father was deported, along with his wife, in June 1944. They were sent to Auschwitz, where they died. At 14 years old, Pierre Vidal-Naquet then hid in his grandmother’s house in the Drôme. There, he read a lot, including the Iliad, and came to know his cousin, the philosopher Jacques Brunschwig. He later learnt that the Nazis had made “his father dance,” something he would never forget.
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