贝尔纳·库什内1939—

个人生活

贝尔纳·库什内有过两次婚姻，第一个夫人是法律教授艾芙丽纳·皮茜叶，两人育有三个子女，第二个夫人是记者克丽斯蒂娜·奥克朗，两人育有一子。

Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the center-right Fillon government under president Nicolas Sarkozy, although he had been in the past a minister in socialist governments and was himself a long-term member of the Socialist Party. 2010, The Jerusalem Post considered Kouchner the 15th most influential Jew in the world. Since 2015 Kouchner is workstream leader for the AMU (Agency for the Modernisation of Ukraine), where he contributes his expertise in healthcare.

Early life

Kouchner was born in Avignon, to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. Kouchner's paternal grandparents were Russian-born Jews who escaped the pogroms by immigrating to France, but perished decades later in Auschwitz.

Career

Kouchner began his political career as a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), from which he was expelled in 1966 for attempting to overthrow the leadership. On a visit to Cuba in 1964, Kouchner spent the night fishing and drinking with Fidel Castro. In the protests of May 1968, he ran the medical faculty strike committee at the Sorbonne.

Co-Founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde

Kouchner worked as a physician for the Red Cross in Biafra in 1968 (during the Nigerian Civil War). His experience as a physician for the Red Cross led him to co-found Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in 1971, and then, due to a conflict of opinion with MSF chairman Claude Malhuret, he established Doctors of the World ('Médecins du Monde') in 1980. Kouchner worked as a humanitarian volunteer during the Siege of Naba'a refugee camp in Lebanon in East Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War taking risks that "other foreign aid workers weren't, even worked closely with the Shia cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr".

Career in government

From 1988, Kouchner began his government career in Socialist governments, though he was not always a member of the Socialist Party (PS).

Political positions

On the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

Kouchner is a longtime advocate of humanitarian intervention. In early 2003, he pronounced himself in favour of removing Saddam Hussein as President of Iraq, arguing that interference against dictatorship should be a global priority, and continued to say that now, the focus should be on the actual people themselves, and that they are the only ones who could answer yes or no to war.

In a 4 February 2003 editorial with Antoine Veil in Le Monde, entitled "Neither War Nor Saddam", Kouchner said that he was opposed to the impending War in Iraq, and, as the title suggests, to the remaining in power of Saddam Hussein, the removal of whom should be accomplished via a concerted UN, preferably diplomatic, solution. He later became a fierce critic of how the occupation was subsequently conducted.

On Europe

Kouchner is a well-known pro-European. He supported the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty when it was threatened to be rejected by the Irish in referendum. In the run up to the referendum in the Republic of Ireland on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, Kouchner warned that any "No" vote towards the treaty would be detrimental to Ireland and the Irish economy.

Life after politics

• After leaving politics, Kouchner took on a variety of positions, including the following:
• American University of Kurdistan (AUK), Member of the Board of Trustees
• Aurora Prize, Member of the Selection Committee (since 2017)
• Devex, Member of the Board of Advisors
• Echo Foundation, Member of the International Board of Advisors
• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member
• Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion (FACE), Member of the Board
• International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), Member of the International Council of Advisors
• Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax), Member of the Advisory Council

Personal life

Kouchner has three children (Julien, Camille and Antoine) by his first wife, Évelyne Pisier, a law professor, and one child, Alexandre, by his present wife Christine Ockrent, a TV anchor and author.

Honours

Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (2005)

Knight of Freedom Award (2011)

Victor Gollancz Prize (2014) in recognition of his "lifelong, unwavering commitment to fight crimes against humanity"

Honorary Knight Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire