Léon Halévy

Léon Halévy, born in Paris, worked toward the goal of European Jewish enlightenment. For Halévy, the emancipation and citizenship granted to Jews during the French Revolution made it possible for them to set aside religious superstition and embrace instead the arts and sciences. Although he suffered professionally from antisemitism, Halévy participated actively in French intellectual life, publishing literary translations, plays, and libretti. He was a follower of Henri de Saint-Simon, attracted by the latter’s belief in the power of reason and science. Despite his early focus on Judaism, Halévy kept his distance from Judaism, Christianity, and later distortions of Saint-Simonianism.