Marcel Bénabou

Marcel Bénabou was born into a traditional Sephardic family in Meknes, Morocco, where he was a prize student at the Alliance Israélite Universelle school. At the age of sixteen, he left Morocco and gave up religious observance. Having moved to Paris, he studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, the École normale supérieure, and finally, the Sorbonne, earning a doctoral degree in ancient Roman history, a subject on which he has written several books. In addition to his career as a professor of ancient history, Bénabou has had a career as a novelist and autobiographer, taking an active role in the avant-garde Ouvroir de littérature potentielle (Oulipo) group and winning various awards, including the National Jewish Book Award for Autobiography.