Jean-Christophe Rufin (born 28 June 1952) is a French doctor, diplomat, historian, globetrotter and novelist. He is the president of Action Against Hunger, one of the earliest members of

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...

, and a member of the Académie française.

Private and public life

Early life

Rufin was born in Bourges, Cher in 1952. An only child, he was raised by his grandparents as his father had left the family and his mother worked in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. His grandfather, a doctor and member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II 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 opposing ...

had been imprisoned for two years at

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

. In 1977, after medical school, Rufin went to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

as a volunteer doctor. He led his first humanitarian mission in Eritrea, where he met Azeb, who became his second wife.

Career

Human rights activism

A graduate of the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

(Sciences-Po), in 1986 he became advisor to the Secretary of State for Human Rights and published his first book, ''Le Piège humanitaire'' (The Humanitarian Trap), an essay on the political stakes of humanitarian action. As a doctor, he is one of the pioneers of humanitarian movement "without borders," for which he has led numerous missions in eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. A former vice-president of

and former president of the

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

Action Against Hunger. Dr. Jean-Christophe Rufin was appointed President of the Sanofi Espoir Corporate Foundation on September 18, 2020.

Report on racism and anti-Semitism

In 2003, Rufin was commissioned by French Interior Minister

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

to write an in-depth report on the upsurge of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in France. He presented the final report on October 19, 2004. The "Rufin report" (as it later became known), as described by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

,"France: International Religious Freedom Report 2005"
U.S. Department of State. concluded the following: *

Racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

and

were a threat to French democracy. * Anti-semitic acts are not only carried out by elements of the extreme right and youths of North African descent, but also by "disaffected individuals" whose anti-Semitic obsessions prompt their attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions. * Radical anti-Zionists who question Israel's

right to exist The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the 19th-century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the communit ...

were dangerous. The report, as described by the US State Department, recommended the following actions: * That a law be created to punish those publicly equating Israel with

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. * That the French press law of 1881, designed to guarantee freedom of the press, is too unwieldy to adequately address the issues of racism. * That intolerance be countered in primary schools and by the education of new immigrants about the fight against racism and anti-Semitism. * That an observation system to monitor racist and anti-Semitic websites be created and that it work closely with authorities to prosecute offenders. The report was criticised by Michel Tubiana of the

Ligue des droits de l'homme The Human Rights League (french: Ligue des droits de l’homme ''t du citoyen' or LDH) of France is a Human Rights NGO association to observe, defend and promulgation of Rights Man within the French Republic in all spheres of public life. The ...

, who accused Rufin of "acting like an arsonist fireman." Tubiana said that the focus on anti-Semitism created an "imbalance" in the approach to fighting all racism, and that if the recommendation became law, the umbrella group of the International Federation for Human Rights would be punished because it viewed Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs as "discriminatory".

Selected bibliography

Essays

* L'aventure humanitaire ("The Humanitarian Adventure"), coll. " Découvertes Gallimard" (nº 226) (1994) * La dictature libérale ("The Liberal Dictatorship") (1994) * L'empire et les nouveaux barbares ("The Empire and the New Barbarians") (1991) * Le piège humanitaire : quand l'humanitaire remplace la guerre ("The Humane Trap: when humanitarianism replaces war") (1986)

Novels

*1997 '' The Abyssinian'' (1997) - winner of

Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

and

Prix Méditerranée The Prix Méditerranée (Mediterranean Prize) is a French literary award. It was created in 1984 in Perpignan by the Mediterranean Centre of Literature (CML) in order to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Med ...

*1998 ''The Siege of Isfahan'' *1999 ''Lost Causes'' / "Asmara et les causes perdues" (1999) - winner of

prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual French literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 1930 by about thirty or so journa ...

*2001 '' Brazil Red'' (''Rouge Brésil''; 2001) - winner of

prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

*2004 ''Globalia'' *2007 ''Le Parfum d'Adam'' *2010 ''Katiba'' *2011 ''Sept histoires qui reviennent de loin'' *2012 ''Le Grand Cœur'' *2014 ''The Red Collar'' (''Le Collier rouge'') - winner of

prix Maurice Genevoix The Prix Maurice Genevoix (''Le prix Maurice Genevoix'') is an annual French literary award made in honor of its namesake Maurice Genevoix (1890–1980). It is intended to recognize a French literary work which, by its topic or style, honors the m ...

*2015 ''Check-point'' *2016 ''The Santiago Pilgrimage''

Non-fiction books

* Économie des guerres civiles ("Economics of Civil Wars"), with Jean François (1996) * Mondes rebelles ("World Rebels"), with Arnaud de La Grange and Jean-Marc Balancie. (1996)

References

External links

Jean-Christophe Rufin: Writing without borders
Profile in Paris Voice, accessed June 26, 2006.
Books and reviews: "Économie des guerres civiles"
François Grunewald,

International Review of the Red Cross The ''International Review of the Red Cross'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed international humanitarian law journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The journal provides a "forum fo ...

, December 31, 1997, accessed June 26, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rufin, Jean-Christophe 1952 births Living people Writers from Bourges French humanitarians 20th-century French physicians 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists French medical writers French travel writers French historical novelists Postmodern writers Prix Goncourt winners Prix Interallié winners Joseph Kessel Prize recipients Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman recipients Members of the Académie Française Ambassadors of France to Senegal Ambassadors of France to the Gambia French male novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Officiers of the Légion d'honneur