Jean Daniel Bensaid (21 July 1920 – 19 February 2020) was a French journalist and author. He was the founder and executive editor of ''
Le Nouvel Observateur
(), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...
'' weekly now known as ''L'Obs''.
Life and career
Daniel was born in Blida, Algeria, as the youngest of 11 children.
[ His father, Jules Bensaid, was a flour miller. Jean Daniel attended the ]University of Algiers
The University of Algiers (Arabic language, Arabic:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a public university, public research university located in Algiers, Algeria. It is the ...
before the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.[ During the war, he was part of a resistance group that aided the liberation of Algiers, and he participated in the ]Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
as part of the Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
forces led by Philippe Leclerc
Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during the Second World War. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as le maréchal ...
.[ Following the war, Daniel attended ]Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...
(studying philosophy) and worked for Félix Gouin
Félix Gouin (; 4 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO).
Personal life
Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...
as a speechwriter.[
Daniel was a Jewish ]humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
in the tradition of the French Left
The Left in France (french: gauche française) was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' Internatio ...
. He was a colleague and friend of Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
, a fellow pied-noir
The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French people, French and other White Africans of European ancestry, European descent who were born in Algeria during the French Algeria, period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the v ...
(French-Algerian). In ''La prison juive: Humeurs et méditations d'un témoin'' (''The Jewish Prison''), Daniel argued that prosperous, assimilated Jews in the west live in a self-imposed prison made of up of three invisible walls: the idea of the Chosen People
Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of a "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term ( he, עם ס ...
, Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
remembrance, and support for Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. "Having trapped themselves inside these walls...," wrote Adam Shatz in describing the book, "they were less able to see themselves clearly, or to appreciate the suffering of others -- particularly the Palestinians living behind the ' separation fence'."
Daniel was a member of the Saint-Simon Foundation The Saint-Simon Foundation (french: Fondation Saint-Simon) was a French think tank that was created in 1982 and brought together public intellectuals, journalists, senior civil servants, business leaders, trade unionists, and academics. It terminate ...
think-tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental org ...
.
Journalism
In 1947 Daniel co-founded the ''Caliban'' magazine, which ran until 1951.[ Following it closure Daniel became a teacher, until he was hired as a reporter by ''L'Express'' in 1956.][ Daniel covered the ]Algerian War
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
for ''L'Express''; he was sympathetic to the independence cause and received death threats from the Organisation armée secrète
The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an att ...
(OAS).[ He was interviewing ]Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
in Havana as news came through of the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
.[ Castro said "es una mala noticia" ("this is bad news"), perceiving that he would be blamed in some quarters for the assassination.][ Kennedy had given Daniel a message to pass to Castro, which said that the U.S. could respect a "nationalist, even communist" government of Cuba, but could not relate to a country that was "indentured" to the Soviet Union.][
He co-founded the French magazine ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' in 1964,][ which had existed since 1950 as ''L'Observateur politique, économique et littéraire'' (1950–53), ''L'Observateur aujourd'hui'' (1953–54) and ''France Observateur'' (1954–64).] The 1964 incarnation of the magazine was when Jean Daniel and Claude Perdriel
Claude Perdriel (born 25 October 1926) is owner-manager of the Perdriel Group that publishes ''Sciences et Avenir'', ''Challenges'', ''Rue89'' and during 1970–1980, the Paris daily ''Le Matin de Paris''. It also published ''Le Nouvel Observa ...
took over renaming the magazine and starting its best known phase under the name ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' as a weekly. Since then it has been published by Groupe Nouvel Observateur on a weekly basis and has covered political, business and economic news in France and internationally. On 23 October 2014, the magazine was renamed ''L'Obs
(), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...
''.
Published works
Books
*''The Jewish Prison: a Rebellious Meditation on the State of Judaism'' translated into English by Charlotte Mandell
Charlotte Mandell (born 1968) is an American literary translator. She has translated many works of poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rh ...
, 2005, Melville House Publishing, USA
Articles
* "We Already Miss His Vigilance" ''TELOS'' 44 (Summer 1980). New York
Telos Press
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Jean
1920 births
2020 deaths
Algerian Jews
University of Algiers alumni
University of Paris alumni
Pieds-Noirs
People from Blida
French people of Algerian-Jewish descent
French male journalists
French war correspondents
French magazine founders
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite
French male non-fiction writers
French agnostics