When and where was Jean Beaufret born?
Jean Beaufret was born on the 22nd of May 1907 in Auzances, France. He graduated from the École Normale Supérieure before completing his mandatory military service.
Jean Beaufret was born on the 22nd of May 1907 in Auzances, France. He graduated from the École Normale Supérieure before completing his mandatory military service.
During the Second World War, Jean Beaufret became a prisoner of war who escaped captivity to join the French Resistance near Lyon. Within this underground network, he operated under the name Service Périclès while engaging in active political resistance against occupation forces.
In 1946, Jean Beaufret met Martin Heidegger during denazification proceedings which led Heidegger to write the Letter on Humanism directly to him. In 1947, Beaufret organized a trip for students to visit Heidegger at Todtnauberg in Baden-Württemberg.
Jacques Derrida emerged among the notable students trained by Jean Beaufret at Lycée Condorcet who later became influential thinkers themselves. Critics described him as a legendary professor who shaped countless careers through deep intellectual mentorship beyond simple instruction.
Victor Farías published Heidegger and Nazism in 1987 revealing details previously ignored by French philosophers which challenged the orthodox interpretation maintained by Jean Beaufret. Beaufret dismissed Farías's findings regarding Nazi involvement with apparent ease despite new historical evidence.
In 1978, Jean Beaufret wrote a letter to Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson stating he had traveled approximately the same path as Faurisson. Beaufret denied making anti-Semitic statements completely despite accusations circulating among peers that he expressed doubts concerning gas chambers orally.