Youssef Seddik, Tunisie

Youssef Seddik, Tunisie
Speaker, Plenary session: Mena
In 1966 he obtains a BA and MA in philosophy as well as a BA in literature and
French civilisations. During the next four years, he taught French at a High school in
Compiègne and obtained a graduate degree in philosophy in 1967 (Le déterminisme
du désir et la liberté de l'amour, Avicenne and Spinoza) and a BA in ancient Greek.
From 1971 to 1977 he taught philosophy in Tunisian High schools then at the
University Paris III. Director of a publishing company specialised in books for young
people from 1984 to 1987, he was also an important reporter for the newspaper La
Presse de Tunisie between 1975 and 1983. Based in Paris in 1988, he obtains a
Postgraduate diploma in languages and Hellenic civilisation (Sur la marche des dixmille de Xénophon) at the University Paris III (1988) and a doctorate at the École des
hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Advanced Studies in Social
Sciences) in Paris on Le travail coranique (1995). In charge of conferences at the
École des hautes études en sciences sociales, he later teaches modern Islamic
thought at the University Paris III from 1995 to 1996. He publishes numerous works
and translations about Islamic heritage including Dits du prophète Muhammad, Dits
de l'imam Ali, Le Coran : autre lecture, autre traduction and Nous n'avons jamais lu le
Coran. He also tries to publish a Koran in the form of seven volumes of comic books,
an initiative interrupted after his conviction by Tunisian religious authorities in 1992.
He also directed documentaries including a series of five episodes about Mahomet
and On ne vit pas que de pain, both were broadcasted on Arte. In 2011, he launched
his own independent list, in the district of Ariana, for the election of the Constituent
Assembly held on 23 October 2011. Seddik states that it is “legitimate for every
Muslim to re read and interpret the Koran from his/her personal view point”,
recommending that it be read “outside a traditional context with a fresh perspective”.
Installé à Paris en 19881,
Publications:
Brins de chicane. La vie quotidienne à Bagdad au Xe siècle (co written with Tanûkhî),
Published by Actes Sud, Arles, 1999 (ISBN 9782742716913)
Dits de l'imam Ali, Published by. Actes Sud, Arles, 2000 (ISBN 9782742727384)
Le Coran : autre lecture, autre traduction, Published by Aube, La Tour d'Aigues, 2002
(ISBN 9782752602114)
Dits du prophète Muhammad, Published by Actes Sud, Arles, 2002
(ISBN 9782742736812)
L'arrivant du soir : cet islam de lumière qui peine à devenir, Published by Aube, La
Tour d'Aigues, 2004 (ISBN 9782752603821)
Nous n'avons jamais lu le Coran, Published by Aube, La Tour d'Aigues, 2004
(ISBN 9782752600264)
Qui sont les barbares ? : Itinéraire d'un penseur d'islam, Published by Aube, La Tour
d'Aigues, 2007 (ISBN 9782752603838)
Le Grand malentendu. L'Occident face au Coran, Published by Aube, La Tour
d'Aigues, 2010 (ISBN 9782815900706)
Unissons-nous ! Des révolutions arabes aux indignés. Entretiens avec Gilles
Vanderpooten, Published by Aube, La Tour d'Aigues, 2011