Antoine Sfeir, (November 25, 1948, Beirut,Lebanon - October 1, 2018, Paris, France), was a journalist and political scientist and author of numerous works on subjects related to the Middle East and the Muslim world.

Founder of Les Cahiers de l'Orient (Notebooks from the East), he chaired the Center for Studies and Reflection on the Near East (Cerpo) and the Free Institute for the Study of International Relations (ILERI), and taught international relations at the CELSA Sorbonne University.

Biography

Early Life

Antoine Sfeir was born on November 25, 1948 in Beirut,Lebanon,[1] in a family of Maronite Christians. At one and a half years old, he contracted polio. From this illness, he kept a slight lip defect (facial paralysis) for the rest of his life.[2]

He studied at the Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour then at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, and began studying medicine.

Career

Sfeir was the editor of the French journal, Les Cahiers de l'Orient (Notebooks from the East), a quarterly publication devoted to the Arab and Muslim world, and the president of the CERPO (Study and Research Center on the Middle East). A former professor of international relations at the CELSA (Paris-Sorbonne University) school, he was also president of the ILERI international relations school (Institut Libre d'Etude des Relations Internationales).[3]

On 13 June 1976, he was kidnapped by pro-Syrian militiamen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was held captive for seven days, during which he was tortured (bayonet in the back, blows with the butt on the fingers and in the jaw, torn nails). This episode pushed him to leave Lebanon to take refuge in France, where he arrived on 3 September 1976. His knowledge of Arab countries and the Muslim world means that he quickly becomes an expert solicited by French media to decipher current events in the Middle East.

A recognized expert on Islam,[4] Sfeir warned against the dangers of radicalism as soon as in the 2000s : "...foreign imams often found an all too willing audience in France's rundown immigrant suburbs. The kids there already watch Arab stations on satellite TV, with their bloodthirsty slogans and anti-western propaganda. They've already been totally radicalized."[5]

Sfeir wrote numerous books about Islam and the Middle East;[6][7] one of which was The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, translated by John King (Columbia University Press).[8] He was often interviewed about international affairs on television talkshows,[9] newspapers,[10] and Administration commissions.[11]

In his book Tunisie, terre de paradoxes[12] published in 2006, he was accused of supporting the regime of Ben Ali in particular by denying its police and authoritarian character.[13] Sfeir replied that he always considered "the Tunisian people as an example for the whole region" in terms of education, modernization and regional integration, as well as in the fight against religious fundamentalism".[14] But in February 2011, Sfeir admitted that he was "heavily mistaken" on Tunisia and the Ben Ali regime.[15]

Sfeir was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2009.[16] He died on 1 October 2018.[17]

Family

Antoine Sfeir is the father of three daughters, the eldest of whom, Marie-José, Les Cahiers de l'Orient.[18]

Honours

Works

  • Sfeir, Antoine (1992). L'Argent des Arabes. Hermé.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (1993). L'Atlas des religions (Republished 1999 ed.). Perrin.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (1997). Les Réseaux d'Allah (Republished 2011 ed.). Plon.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2002). Dictionnaire mondial de l'islamisme. Plon.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Andrau, René (2005). Liberté, égalité, islam. Tallandier.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Montenay, Yves (2005). La langue française face à la mondialisation. Les Belles Lettres.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2006). L'islam en 50 clés. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2006). Vers l'Orient compliqué. Grasset.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2006). Tunisie, Terre de paradoxes. L'Archipel.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Bacharan, Nicole (2006). Américains-arabes.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2007). Brève histoire de l'islam à l'usage de tous. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2007). Les Islamismes d'hier à aujourd'hui. Lignes de repères.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2007). Al-Qaïda menace la France. Le Cherche midi.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Klein, Théo (2008). Israël survivra-t-il ?. L'Archipel.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2008). Vers l'Orient compliqué (Pocket edition: Paris, Le Livre de poche ed.). Grasset.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Bencheikh, Ghaleb (2008). Lettre ouverte aux islamistes. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2009). Chrétiens d'Orient. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2009). Dictionnaire géopolitique de l'islamisme. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine; Chesnot, Christian (2009). Orient-Occident. Calmann-Lévy. p. 304. ISBN 978-2-7021-3970-7. OCLC 41414367.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2009). Brève histoire de l'islam à l'usage de tous. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2011). Dictionnaire du Moyen-Orient. Bayard.
  • Sfeir, Antoine (2012). L'Islam contre l'islam, l'interminable guerre des chiites et des sunnites. Paris: Grasset. ISBN 978-2-246-76401-4. OCLC 435147763.

References

  1. ^ https://lescahiersdelorient.org/antoine-sfeir/
  2. ^ https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2018/10/02/mort-d-antoine-sfeir-journaliste-specialiste-du-proche-orient_5363206_3382.html
  3. ^ Nomination à l'ILERI : Antoine SFEIR, nouveau Président
  4. ^ Last published : Islam against Islam, the endless war between the Sunnites and the Shiites, Grasset, 2012
  5. ^ "France to train imams in 'French Islam'", The Guardian, 23 April 2004
  6. ^ Antoine Sfeir Amazon page
  7. ^ Antoine Sfeir Good reads page
  8. ^ The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism
  9. ^ Antoine Sfeir Imdb page
  10. ^ "As Europe watches Arab unrest, fears over oil, migration shade its response", The Christian Science Monitor, 22 February 2011
  11. ^ L'Islam en France, French Senate, You Tube, 3 February 2016
  12. ^ Tunisie, terre de paradoxes
  13. ^ Blog The Arabist
  14. ^ "La Tunisie, rempart contre la déferlante intégriste dans la région", Antoine Sfeir, Le Figaro, 26 octobre 2009, l. 39 and 43.
  15. ^ Auteur d'une apologie de Ben Ali, Antoine Sfeir fait son mea culpa, L'Obs, 18 February 2011.
  16. ^ "Légion d'honneur : promotion du 14 juillet (II)". FIGARO (in French). 15 July 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  17. ^ Antoine Sfeir, politologue spécialisé dans le monde arabe et musulman, est mort
  18. ^ "The journalist and political scientist specializing in the Middle East Antoine Sfeir has died". 1 October 2018..
  19. ^ "Legion of Honour: July 14 promotion (II)", Le Figaro, 15 July 2009.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Sfeir
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