An Evening of Enlightenment about French Philosopher Simone Weil's Letters

ABOUT THE EVENT

Join us on Friday, November 1, at 7:00PM, for an illuminating conversation - in English- about Simone Weil, France's most profound female Philosopher and one of the 20th century’s most extraordinary thinkers. Weil's reflections on justice, human suffering, and the nature of freedom resonate deeply today. With the world grappling with ongoing conflicts and the uncertainty of the U.S. elections, Weil’s writings offer a profound lens through which to understand our moral responsibilities in tumultuous times.

These letters, beginning in her childhood, reveal the remarkable transformation of a woman born into a bourgeois Jewish family who grew to become a champion for the rights of the working-man, a freedom fighter during both the Spanish Civil War and World War 2, and a devout Christian mystic. Her journey from privilege to profound empathy for the oppressed offers us vital insights into how individuals can shape the world.

Nicholas Elliott, who has masterfully translated Weil’s moving correspondence with her family into English, will be joined by essayist Paul Grenier of the Simone Weil Center for Political Philosophy. Together, they will explore Weil’s insights into the nature of freedom, power, and the human spirit — ideas that speak urgently to the global and political challenges we face today.

Don't miss this chance to delve into Weil's timeless wisdom and explore how her work can guide us through the complexities of the modern world.

The book can be pre-ordered from the publisher Harvard University Press:

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674292376

An excerpt of the translation can be found here:

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2024/08/07/four-letters-from-simone-to-andre-weil/

REVIEWERS WRITE:

"These beautifully translated letters, more casual than her essays and journals, weave together the mundane and the extraordinary. They reveal a woman who continued to grapple with ancient Greek math and to teach herself Babylonian even as she and her family were imperiled by World War II. Her exemplary life and writings inspire us to live more rigorously, and we’re fortunate that these letters are at last available in English."
-- Karen Olsson, author of The Weil Conjectures

"Appearing for the first time in English, the letters Weil writes to her parents show a different facet of her life and character than we have previously been able to see. They introduce readers to new dimensions of her singularly important philosophy. The introduction by Robert Chenavier is most helpful and informative. Both engrossing and illuminating, this book will appeal not just to Weil's devotees, but also to historians, art critics, literary scholars, and philosophers."
-- Françoise Meltzer, author of Dark Lens: Imaging Germany, 1945

ABOUT NICHOLAS ELLIOTT

Nicholas Elliott is a film programmer, writer, and translator, based in New York City.

He is a contributing editor for film for BOMB magazine and was the American correspondent for French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma from 2009 to 2020. He has also worked extensively in theater between the United States and France.

His translations from French to English include two essays by William Marx, professor at the Collège de France (The Hatred of Literature, Harvard University Press; The Tomb of Oedipus, Verso), a biography of Gustave Flaubert by Michel Winock (Flaubert, Harvard University Press), a collection of conversations between Marguerite Duras and Jean-Luc Godard (Duras/Godard, The Film Desk), The Falling Sky by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert (Harvard University Press, winner of the 27th French-American Foundation Non-Fiction Translation Prize, 2013), and Diary of a Film by Jean Cocteau in 2023. His most recent translation, A Life in Letters, is the first-time that the correspondence between French philosopher, mystic, and freedom fighter Simone Weil (1909-1943) and her family appears unabridged in English language.

ABOUT PAUL GRENIER

Paul Grenier is an essayist and translator who writes frequently on political philosophy, urbanism and foreign affairs. His essays have appeared in such publications as American Affairs, The National Interest, The American Conservative, Telos, and Landmarks; and in translation in Russian, Spanish and French. He holds graduate degrees in International Affairs and Geography (Columbia University) and a certificate from the Harriman Institute of Columbia University where he studied Russian Intellectual History under Marc Raeff. Grenier worked for many years as a simultaneous interpreter for the U.S. Defense and State Departments. As a research director at the Council on Economic Priorities in New York, he led collaborative projects between US and Russian academics on military-economic affairs. Today he serves as the president of the Simone Weil Center for Political Philosophy, where he is also the editor in chief of its publication, Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue.

Host or Publisher Alliance Française de Washington, DC (AFDC)