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| Not many people find themselves propelled suddenly to worldwide celebrity in their 90s. This is what happened, however, to Stéphane Hessel, who has died aged 95. Having had a distinguished career during the second world war in General Charles de Gaulle's Free French movement and as an international civil servant after the war, Hessel in 2010 published a pamphlet, Time for Outrage (Indignez-Vous!), which became the manifesto for anti-capitalist protest groups such as the Indignados in Spain and Occupy Wall Street in the US. It is estimated to have sold some 4m copies worldwide. | Not many people find themselves propelled suddenly to worldwide celebrity in their 90s. This is what happened, however, to Stéphane Hessel, who has died aged 95. Having had a distinguished career during the second world war in General Charles de Gaulle's Free French movement and as an international civil servant after the war, Hessel in 2010 published a pamphlet, Time for Outrage (Indignez-Vous!), which became the manifesto for anti-capitalist protest groups such as the Indignados in Spain and Occupy Wall Street in the US. It is estimated to have sold some 4m copies worldwide. |
| Hessel's internationalism was rooted in his cosmopolitan background. He was born in Berlin to a bourgeois and intellectual Jewish family who had converted to Protestantism. His father, Franz, was an essayist and translator who had translated Proust into German. His mother, Helen (nee Grund), who had an intense liaison with a French friend of his father, Henri-Pierre Roché, was the model for Catherine (played by Jeanne Moreau) in the 1962 film Jules et Jim. | Hessel's internationalism was rooted in his cosmopolitan background. He was born in Berlin to a bourgeois and intellectual Jewish family who had converted to Protestantism. His father, Franz, was an essayist and translator who had translated Proust into German. His mother, Helen (nee Grund), who had an intense liaison with a French friend of his father, Henri-Pierre Roché, was the model for Catherine (played by Jeanne Moreau) in the 1962 film Jules et Jim. |
| His mother took the young Stéphane with her to Paris in 1925 when she decided to live with her lover. Stéphane was educated in France and acquired French citizenship in 1937. Already bilingual in French and German, he learned perfect English while studying for a year at the London School of Economics in 1937. He mixed in London literary and intellectual circles, getting to know, among others, the writer Aldous Huxley. | His mother took the young Stéphane with her to Paris in 1925 when she decided to live with her lover. Stéphane was educated in France and acquired French citizenship in 1937. Already bilingual in French and German, he learned perfect English while studying for a year at the London School of Economics in 1937. He mixed in London literary and intellectual circles, getting to know, among others, the writer Aldous Huxley. |
| Taken prisoner during the battle of France in 1940, Hessel escaped before he could be transferred to Germany. He made his way to Marseille, where he spent two very intense months with Varian Fry, who had been sent by the US first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, to organise the escape to the US of European intellectuals (among them the surrealists André Breton and Max Ernst) whose lives would be in danger if they remained in Nazi-occupied France. In Marseille Hessel met for the last time the German philosopher Walter Benjamin, who had been a friend of his father. Benjamin took his own life when he failed to escape from France across the Pyrenees. Hessel was luckier and arrived in London to join De Gaulle in May 1941. | Taken prisoner during the battle of France in 1940, Hessel escaped before he could be transferred to Germany. He made his way to Marseille, where he spent two very intense months with Varian Fry, who had been sent by the US first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, to organise the escape to the US of European intellectuals (among them the surrealists André Breton and Max Ernst) whose lives would be in danger if they remained in Nazi-occupied France. In Marseille Hessel met for the last time the German philosopher Walter Benjamin, who had been a friend of his father. Benjamin took his own life when he failed to escape from France across the Pyrenees. Hessel was luckier and arrived in London to join De Gaulle in May 1941. |
| He signed up to work for the Gaullist secret services in the section responsible for analysing intelligence received from agents in France. In March 1944, in preparation for the D-day landings, he was flown to France as part of the Greco Mission to make contact with a number of resistance networks. This was a period when the Gestapo was engaged in ferocious repression of the resistance, and many movements were infiltrated by traitors. | He signed up to work for the Gaullist secret services in the section responsible for analysing intelligence received from agents in France. In March 1944, in preparation for the D-day landings, he was flown to France as part of the Greco Mission to make contact with a number of resistance networks. This was a period when the Gestapo was engaged in ferocious repression of the resistance, and many movements were infiltrated by traitors. |
| Hessel was arrested in July 1944 and underwent several weeks of torture before being deported to Buchenwald. He managed to escape execution, with the complicity of one of the guards, by substituting his own identity with that of a prisoner who had died of typhoid, which was ravaging the camp. Under his new identity, he was transferred to the camp of Rottleberode. | Hessel was arrested in July 1944 and underwent several weeks of torture before being deported to Buchenwald. He managed to escape execution, with the complicity of one of the guards, by substituting his own identity with that of a prisoner who had died of typhoid, which was ravaging the camp. Under his new identity, he was transferred to the camp of Rottleberode. |
| In the implacable universe of the Nazi camps, Hessel was helped by his perfect knowledge of German. He escaped but was quickly picked up again, and transferred to the notorious slave labour camp of Dora. As the allies approached, the Germans evacuated the camp and the prisoners were loaded into a train to be transferred to Bergen-Belsen. This time, however, Hessel was successful in escaping, through a gap in the floor of his carriage, and fled into the forest. He made his way on foot to Hanover and was picked up by American troops at the end of April. | In the implacable universe of the Nazi camps, Hessel was helped by his perfect knowledge of German. He escaped but was quickly picked up again, and transferred to the notorious slave labour camp of Dora. As the allies approached, the Germans evacuated the camp and the prisoners were loaded into a train to be transferred to Bergen-Belsen. This time, however, Hessel was successful in escaping, through a gap in the floor of his carriage, and fled into the forest. He made his way on foot to Hanover and was picked up by American troops at the end of April. |
| After returning to liberated France, Hessel embarked on a diplomatic career, working first at the newly founded United Nations. He was involved at a junior level in the drafting of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He then spent most of his career representing France at international organisations devoted to human rights and economic development in Africa. In 1954, he was an adviser to the left-of-centre prime minister, Pierre Mendès France, whose government put an end to the French war in Indo-China. In 1977, he was appointed French ambassador to the UN. | After returning to liberated France, Hessel embarked on a diplomatic career, working first at the newly founded United Nations. He was involved at a junior level in the drafting of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He then spent most of his career representing France at international organisations devoted to human rights and economic development in Africa. In 1954, he was an adviser to the left-of-centre prime minister, Pierre Mendès France, whose government put an end to the French war in Indo-China. In 1977, he was appointed French ambassador to the UN. |
| After his retirement, Hessel took up a whole series of progressive causes and acted as an adviser to various socialist governments. What turned into the pamphlet Time for Outrage started life as a speech he made in 2008 to commemorate the resistance and oppose its exploitation by rightwing politicians such as Nicolas Sarkozy. The campaign took off in ways that he had never predicted. Hessel saw his denunciation of international finance as a way of remaining loyal to the humanistic and progressive values of the resistance. | After his retirement, Hessel took up a whole series of progressive causes and acted as an adviser to various socialist governments. What turned into the pamphlet Time for Outrage started life as a speech he made in 2008 to commemorate the resistance and oppose its exploitation by rightwing politicians such as Nicolas Sarkozy. The campaign took off in ways that he had never predicted. Hessel saw his denunciation of international finance as a way of remaining loyal to the humanistic and progressive values of the resistance. |
| He was also passionately attached to the Palestinian cause, and the virulence of his attacks on Israel attracted considerable controversy. A lecture he was due to deliver on the subject at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 2011 was cancelled at the last minute, leading to accusations by his defenders that he was being censored by Jewish organisations. | He was also passionately attached to the Palestinian cause, and the virulence of his attacks on Israel attracted considerable controversy. A lecture he was due to deliver on the subject at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 2011 was cancelled at the last minute, leading to accusations by his defenders that he was being censored by Jewish organisations. |
| Although he was a courteous figure, with old-fashioned good manners, there is no doubt that Hessel enjoyed provocation. And he certainly basked in the international celebrity acquired so late in life. He was a hugely charismatic and seductive figure, with something of the performer about him. Behind the showmanship, however, was a richly cultivated European intellectual who could recite from memory long tracts of poetry in German, French and English. He claimed that poetry was what had helped to sustain him during his captivity. At the age of 88, he published an anthology of the poems that had meant the most to him. | Although he was a courteous figure, with old-fashioned good manners, there is no doubt that Hessel enjoyed provocation. And he certainly basked in the international celebrity acquired so late in life. He was a hugely charismatic and seductive figure, with something of the performer about him. Behind the showmanship, however, was a richly cultivated European intellectual who could recite from memory long tracts of poetry in German, French and English. He claimed that poetry was what had helped to sustain him during his captivity. At the age of 88, he published an anthology of the poems that had meant the most to him. |
| His first wife, Vitia, with whom he had a son and two daughters, died in 1985. He is survived by his second wife, Christiane. | His first wife, Vitia, with whom he had a son and two daughters, died in 1985. He is survived by his second wife, Christiane. |
| • Stéphane Hessel, resistance fighter, diplomat and writer, born 20 October 1917; died 26 February 2013 | • Stéphane Hessel, resistance fighter, diplomat and writer, born 20 October 1917; died 26 February 2013 |
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