Mireille Fanon Mendès-France, also Mireille Fanon-Mendès France (born 24 November 1953), is a French jurist and anti-racist activist.

Career

Fanon Mendès-France teaches at

Paris Descartes University Paris Descartes University (), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Descartes completely merg ...

. She was also a visiting professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in international law and conflict resolution. She has also worked for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

. Together with Gilles Devers, she filed a complaint with the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

on behalf of groups representing victims of Israeli attacks during the 2008-2009 Gaza War. Since 2011, she has been an expert for the United Nations Working Group on People of African Descent. She was the president of that UN Working Group from 2014 to 2016.

Views

In an interview at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

in 2020, Fanon Mendès-France called for a new

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

recast so as to no longer reflect a

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) refers to viewing the West as the center of world events or superior to other cultures. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world to just the continent of Euro ...

definition of human beings. She acted as board member of the Jewish French Union for Peace and expressed solidarity and support for

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Family

Fanon Mendès-France is the daughter of the French political philosopher

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...

. She is a scholar of decolonisation and a member of the Frantz Fanon Foundation. She says that her father was "blacklisted" in France, where she finds it difficult to organize events in honor of his memory. Fanon Mendès-France is the widow of Bernard Mendès-France, the son of the French politician

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a c ...

, who served as president of the Council of Ministers under the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic () was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution of 13 October 1946. Essentially a reestablishment and continuation of the French Third R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanon Mendès-France, Mireille 1948 births Academic staff of Paris Descartes University French anti-racism activists French people of Martiniquais descent French women activists Living people University of California, Berkeley faculty Frantz Fanon