Georges Friedmann

Born in Paris to German parents, Georges Friedmann was educated at the Lycée Henri IV and later at the École normale supérieure. His primary intellectual interests—influenced by Marx, Leibniz, and Spinoza, among others—were philosophy, vocational education, and sociology. His sociological work was devoted primarily to the moral and physical effects of industrial mechanization on labor. He also took a lively interest in the Jewish people, traveling to Israel in 1965, where he wrote his La Fin du peuple Juif?, addressing the present and expected future problems of the Jewish people and Israel. He was active in the French resistance during World War II; his experiences were published posthumously.