Maxime Rodinson

Maxime Rodinson (26 January 1915–23 May 2004) was a french marxist historian, sociologist and orientalist. Son of a russian-polish jewish clothing trader died in Auschwitz with his wife, Rodinson studied Oriental Languages, and become professor of ethiopian at EPHE (École Libre des Hautes Études, France).

He joined the french communist party in 1937 for moral reasons. He then turn away after the stalinist drift of the party, from which he was excluded in 1958. He is the author of a rich work, where probably the most famous is his Muhammad, a biography of the prophet that bond the sacred text, its social, politic and cultural context, and the events of the time.

Rodinson became well known in France when he expressed a certain reticence about Israel, despite himself being jewish. He particularly criticized the settlement policies of the jewish state.

Works by Maxime Rodinson

This list refers to the english editions.

• The Arabs (1981) ISBN 0226723569
• Marxism and the Muslim world (1982) ISBN 0853455864
• Israel and the Arabs (1982) ISBN 0140224459
• Marxist-Leninist Scientific Atheism and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR (Religion and Reason) with James Thrower (1983) ISBN 9027930600
• Cult, Ghetto, and State: The Persistence of the Jewish Question (1984) ISBN 0685088707
• Israel: A Colonial-Settler State? (1988) ISBN 0913460222
• Europe and the Mystique of Islam (2002) ISBN 185043106X
• Muhammad (2002) ISBN 1565847520

External Links

• A biography from The Guardian.
• A deep article about Rodinson from The Nation newspaper.
• Some thoughts on the death of 'anti-Marxist' from the Daily Star.