Richard Prasquier
Richard Prasquier | |
---|---|
Richard Prasquier in July 2012 | |
Born |
Gdansk, Poland | 7 July 1945
Nationality | French |
Occupation | President CRIF (2007-13) |
Religion | Judaism |
Richard Prasquier (born on 7 July 1945 in Gdansk, Poland) is a French cardiologist and Jewish leader. He served as president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) from 2007 to 2013.[1]
Biography
Prasquier was born as Ryszard Praszkier in Gdansk, Poland, on 7 July 1945 to Holocaust survivors who wanted to emigrate to the United States after the 1946 Kielce pogrom against Jews in Poland, but decided to settle in France. After his schooling at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris and studies in medicine which he completed with a Ph.D, Richard Prasquier became a cardiologist and later the director of the Hôpital Beaujon in Paris. In 1989, he was a founding member of the Association des Médecins d’Origine Polonaise de France, a grouping of French doctors of Polish origin.[2]
In 1994, Prasquier began his activities with the CRIF, the umbrella body of Jewish communities and organizations in France. He became head of the CRIF liaison group with the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of France as well as the CRIF International Relations Committee. He also served on the board of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah headed by Simone Veil, and in 1997 he became chairman of the French Committee for Yad Vashem.
In 2001, he was decorated with the French Legion of Honor.[3]
In 2006, Prasquier was among those who welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.[4]
Prasquier is married and has five children.[7]
Political statements and actions
In September 2008, Prasquier led a CRIF delegation which met with Pope Benedict XVI in Paris during the Catholic pontiff’s visit to France. "It was very important to us that that given his busy schedule he took the time out to meet with us on this special day, the Sabbath," Prasquier was quoted as saying after the meeting. He also praised the pope for condemning anti-Semitism.[8] However, a few months later, Prasquier criticized the Vatican for lifting the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, who in an interview with Swedish television had question the extent of the Holocaust. “The denial of the Shoah is not an opinion, but a crime,” Prasquier was quoted as saying.[9]
At repeated occasions, Prasquier has taken a strong stand in defense of Israel. In January 2009, during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, he led a solidarity rally with Israel outside the Israeli embassy building in Paris. He said in his speech: “My position is not against the Palestinians, although I want to express my strong solidarity with Israel. It is against Hamas that I stand up, which is an obstacle to peace and with which no negotiation is possible.”[13]
Richard Prasquier also repeatedly spoke out against the French far-right party Front National once led by Jean-Marie Le Pen and currently by his daughter Marine Le Pen. Prasquier said the latter’s call for a total ban of religious headwear in public, including the Jewish skullcap, showed that there were “secular fanatics just as there are religious fanatics.”[14]
External links
- Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF) (in French)
- Grand entretien avec Richard Prasquier : « ne pas mettre dans le même sac islamophobie et antisémitisme » - JSS News, 8 July 2012 (in French)
- Address by Dr. Richard Prasquier at the Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders, Brussels 6 December 2010 - World Jewish Congress website (English translation)
Notes
- ↑ Roger Cukierman succède à Richard Prasquier à la présidence du Crif - TF1 News, 26 May 2013
- ↑ AMOPF - Médecins d'origine Polonaise de France
- ↑ Décret du 13 juillet 2001 portant promotion et nomination
- ↑ Richard Prasquier : le dialogue à coeur - Par Henri Tincq - Le Monde
- ↑ Richard Prasquier Elected New President of CRIF – European Jewish Congress website, 14 May 2007
- ↑ Richard Prasquier reelected at the head of CRIF, France’s Jewish umbrella representative body – European Jewish Press, 13 June 2010
- ↑ Richard Prasquier's French Wikipedia entry
- ↑ French Jewish leader praises pope for fighting anti-Semitism - Associated Press, 13 September 2008
- ↑ Jews tell Vatican: Holocaust denial is a crime – National Post (Canada), 10 February 2009
- ↑ Prasquier: «Un islam de guerre se développe» - Le Figaro, 7 October 2012
- ↑ France faces Islamist threat, warns Jewish group – Irish Times, 9 October 2012
- ↑ Radicalism Prompts Warnings in France - New York Times, 8 October 2012
- ↑ Sous l’égide du CRIF, grande manifestation de soutien à Israël - Desinfos.com, 6 January 2009
- ↑ French Nationalist Politician Calls for Ban on Jewish Kippah as Well as Muslim Headscarf – Agence France Presse, 23 September 2012