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Jean-Christophe Rufin | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Christophe Rufin, (2013) | |
| Born | (1952-06-28)28 June 1952 (age 73) Bourges, France |
| Occupation(s) | Diplomat Physician Writer |
| Known for | Member of theAcadémie française |
Jean-Christophe Rufin (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃kʁistɔfʁyfɛ̃]; born 28 June 1952) is a French doctor, diplomat, historian and novelist. He is the president ofAction Against Hunger, one of the earliest members ofMédecins Sans Frontières, and a member of theAcadémie française.
Rufin was born inBourges,Cher in 1952. An only child, he was raised by his grandparents as his father had left the family and his mother worked inParis. His grandfather, a doctor and member of theFrench Resistance duringWorld War II had been imprisoned for two years atBuchenwald.
In 1977, after medical school, Rufin went toTunisia as a volunteer doctor. He led his first humanitarian mission inEritrea, where he met Azeb, who became his second wife.he married Ingrid Glowacki at the Embassy of France in Tirana, Albania on 25 April 2025.
Rufin held a number of diplomatic posts. In 1989 he was cultural attaché in Brazil, and in 1993 he became a special adviser in strategic thinking on North-South relations toFrançois Léotard, then Minister of Defence. In 2007, he was appointed French ambassador to Dakar.[1]
A graduate of theInstitut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po), in 1986 he became advisor to the Secretary of State for Human Rights and published his first book,Le Piège humanitaire (The Humanitarian Trap), an essay on the political stakes of humanitarian action.
As a doctor, he is one of the pioneers of humanitarian movement "without borders," for which he has led numerous missions in easternAfrica andLatin America. A former vice-president ofMédecins Sans Frontières and former president of thenon-governmental organizationAction Against Hunger.
Dr. Jean-Christophe Rufin was appointed President of the Sanofi Espoir Corporate Foundation on September 18, 2020.[2]
In 2003, Rufin was commissioned by French Interior MinisterDominique de Villepin to write an in-depth report on the upsurge ofanti-Semitism in France. He presented the final report[3] on October 19, 2004.
The "Rufin report" (as it later became known), as described by theUS State Department,[4] concluded the following:
The report, as described by the US State Department,[4] recommended the following actions:
The report was criticised by Michel Tubiana of theLigue des droits de l'homme, who accused Rufin of "acting like an arsonist fireman." Tubiana said that the focus on anti-Semitism created an "imbalance" in the approach to fighting all racism, and that if the recommendation became law, the umbrella group of theInternational Federation for Human Rights would be punished because it viewed Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs as "discriminatory".[5]
