Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (; ; born 4 April 1945) is a French-German politician. Born stateless to a German-Polish

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

family, Daniel Cohn-Bendit obtained German citizenship in 1959 and French citizenship in 2015. Cohn-Bendit was a student leader during the unrest of

May 1968 in France May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

and was also known during that time as ''Dany le Rouge'' (French for "Danny the Red", because of both his politics and the colour of his hair). He was co-president of the group

European Greens–European Free Alliance European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. He co-chairs the

Spinelli Group The Spinelli Group is an initiative founded with a view to reinvigorate the endeavour for federalisation of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...

, a

inter-group aiming at relaunching the

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

project in Europe. He was a recipient of the

's European Initiative Prize in 2016. Cohn-Bendit's 1970s writings on sexuality between adults and children later proved controversial in 2001 and 2013. The same can be said of his statements to Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) that same year, and his statements on the French TV show Apostrophes in 1982.

Early life

Daniel Cohn-Bendit was born in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 4 April 1945, shortly after the Allied liberation of southern France. His parents were German Jews who fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1933. His father, , was a

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

-based lawyer, self-proclaimed atheist and committed

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

who had worked as a defense attorney for the

Rote Hilfe The Rote Hilfe ("Red Aid") was the German affiliate of the International Red Aid. The Rote Hilfe was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany and existed between 1924 and 1936. Its purpose was to provide help to those Communists who had bee ...

and represented

Hans Litten Hans Achim Litten (19 June 1903 – 5 February 1938) was a German lawyer who represented opponents of the Nazi Party, Nazis at important political trials between 1929 and 1932, defending the rights of workers during the Weimar Republic. During o ...

. His mother, (née David; 1908–1963), was born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and also worked as a lawyer. Several of their relatives who remained in Berlin were deported to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

in 1942/43, where they either perished or were murdered. In

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, his parents became part of a circle of Jewish intellectuals that included

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

, Heinrich Blücher, and philosopher

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

, whose works would later strongly influence Daniel. After Erich was interned twice in 1939/1940, the family, including Daniel's older brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit (born 1936), moved to Montauban, near

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Following the war, they relocated to Paris and then to Cailly-sur-Eure in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, where his parents ran a Jewish children's home. In 1949, the family returned to Paris when Herta took over the economic management of the Jewish École Maïmonide. His parents initially planned to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and therefore did not apply for French citizenship for Daniel. In 1952, Erich established a law practice in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, while Herta and Daniel remained in Paris. Although his father applied for French citizenship for Daniel in 1958, the application remained incomplete due to missing documentation, leaving him stateless for several years. That same year, Daniel and his mother also moved to Frankfurt. The move was particularly difficult for the 13-year-old Daniel, who later recalled, "I cried every night... Even when one defends immigration, you have to know that it's horrible to be forced to leave. It chokes you." In Germany, he attended the progressive Odenwaldschule in Ober-Hambach near

Heppenheim Heppenheim (Bergstraße) () is the seat of Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Bergstraße on the edge of the Odenwald. It is best known for being the birthplace of Sebastian Vettel, a four-time Formula One World Champion and ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Selected works

He is the co-author, with his brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, of ''Obsolete Communism: The Left-Wing Alternative'' (''Linksradikalismus: Gewaltkur gegen die Alterskrankheit des Kommunismus'', 1968). This book combines an account of the events of May 1968 with a critique of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

, the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

and the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

establishment. The authors acknowledged their intellectual debt to the

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

group

Socialisme ou Barbarie Socialisme ou Barbarie (SouB; "Socialism or Barbarism") was a French-based radical libertarian socialist group of the post-World War II period whose name comes from a phrase which was misattributed to Friedrich Engels by Rosa Luxemburg in the ...

, especially

Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis (; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greeks in France, Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, sociologist, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, au ...

("Pierre Chaulieu") and

Claude Lefort Claude Lefort (; ; 21 April 1924 – 3 October 2010) was a French philosopher and activist. He was politically active by 1942 under the influence of his tutor, the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty (whose posthumous publications Lefort lat ...

Allegations of sex with minors

In 2001, it was revealed that Cohn-Bendit had authored a 1976 article in the cultural-political magazine ''das da'', in which he graphically described engaging in sexual activities with children under his care at a Frankfurt kindergarten. In 2013, a recording was discovered wherein Cohn-Bendit described an "incredibly erotic game" with a minor. With regard to the ''das da'' article, Cohn-Bendit claimed the described activities were not based on true events and were an "obnoxious provocation". Swiss Radio Television (RTS) has undermined Cohn-Bendit's defense by citing him in their 2015 show ''C'était mieux avant'' (It Was Better Before). The remarks made by Daniel Cohn-Bendit in the 1975 show ''Destins'' are described as more than ambiguous: "Example, Daniel Cohn-Bendit... in the TSR program ''Destins'' in 1975, he made more than ambiguous statements about his relationships with children: "By having experiences with kids, playing with them, having emotional and even sexual relationships, sexual in the emotional sense, caresses, etc., I learned a lot about myself"."

In popular culture

A modified photo of Cohn-Bendit confronting a police officer in May 1968 was used as cover art for the British punk-rock band

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

for their 1997 compilation album ''We Are All Jews and Germans''.

Bibliography

* Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, ''Obsolete Communism: The Left-Wing Alternative'', London: Andre Deutch, 1968 – translation of ''Le Gauchisme, remède à la maladie sénile du communisme'' (1968). * Daniel Cohn-Bendit and

, ''De l'écologie à l'autonomie'', Le Seuil, 1981.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn-Bendit, Daniel 1945 births Living people Naturalized citizens of France 20th-century French Jews Alliance 90/The Greens MEPs Anti–Vietnam War activists Europe Ecology – The Greens MEPs Europe Ecology – The Greens politicians French expatriates in Germany French socialists May 1968 in France MEPs for France 1999–2004 MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 MEPs for Île-de-France 2009–2014 People from Montauban Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members University of Paris alumni