Family exile: Bassma Kodmani

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme are pleased to invite you to a first lecture on the exile of Bassma Kodmani, as part of the series "Intellectuals in exile: a humanism without borders".

Bassma Kodmani was a Franco-Syrian intellectual who wrote a remarkable work on democracy in the Arab world. Exiled to France with her family, Bassma Kodmani was intensely involved in the fight for freedom in her native country.

Many families in the Middle East have found in exile the conditions to bring up their children in an atmosphere of freedom. The multiplicity of identities of the children of exiles is an enormous asset for host countries and an essential component of our common humanity.

Speakers:

• Salam Kawakibi, Director of CAREP Paris
• Hala Kodmani, journalist
• Brigitte Curmi, Ambassador for Syria
• Ambassador Michel Duclos, special advisor, Institut Montaigne

A series of 5 lectures

Exile has never spared intellectuals. In the twentieth century and right up to the present day, it has even been one of the usual conditions for the life of the mind. But while it forces thought and creation to take a break, it also sometimes leads them to flourish elsewhere, or even to be nourished by this situation of loss and constraint.

The series of lectures entitled "Intellectuals in exile: a humanism without borders" seeks to highlight the complexity of these intellectual trajectories and their importance for the renewal of thought and democracy.

Each conference is organised around one or more exiled intellectuals, most often hosted at the FMSH or the EHESS. Together with the specialists invited to present them, these intellectuals represent a wide range of backgrounds, in terms of their country of origin, their preferred discipline, and the period and conditions of their exile.