André Glucksmann
A French thinker who turned from Marxist radicalism to become a fierce intellectual critic of totalitarianism, championing human rights across ideological lines.
1937–2015 (age 78)·French philosopher, activist, and writer·Birthday: June 19·The Silent Generation
Biography
André Glucksmann’s intellectual journey was a seismic shift that mirrored Europe’s political upheavals. Beginning as a committed Marxist in the turbulent 1960s, his deep study of Soviet gulags and philosophical texts led to a dramatic public rupture. His 1975 book, 'The Cook and the Cannibal,' served as his scorching farewell to leftist orthodoxy, arguing that Marxism-Leninism was a recipe for tyranny. He emerged as a leading 'new philosopher,' using his formidable polemical skills to dissect the moral failures of both communism and, later, Western appeasement. Glucksmann never settled into simple anti-communism; he applied the same relentless scrutiny to genocide in Bosnia, Islamic terrorism, and Russian aggression under Putin, always framing his arguments as a defense of the individual against the crushing power of the state. His voice, often contrarian and always charged, insisted that intellectuals had a duty to speak truth to power, regardless of political fashion.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
André was born in 1937, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When André Was Born
The biggest hits of 1937
#1 Movie
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Best Picture
The Life of Emile Zola
André's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1937Born
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1942Started school
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1950Became a teenager
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1953Could drive
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1955Could vote
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1958Turned 21
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1967Turned 30
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1977Turned 40
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 50
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 60
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 70
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2015Died at 78
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential 1975 book 'La Cuisinière et le Mangeur d'Hommes,' which publicly dismantled his former Marxist-Leninist beliefs.
- Became a central figure in the 'Nouveaux Philosophes' (New Philosophers) movement that critiqued totalitarian ideologies in the 1970s.
- Was a vocal supporter of interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo, arguing for a moral duty to prevent genocide.
- Consistently criticized post-Soviet Russian foreign policy, particularly the wars in Chechnya and the 2008 invasion of Georgia.
Did You Know?
His son, Raphaël Glucksmann, is a prominent French essayist and politician.
He was a strong advocate for NATO intervention during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.
Glucksmann initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a position that put him at odds with much of the European left.
“The intellectual's role is to say what is, to name the unnameable.”
