French psychoanalyst and historian Elisabeth Roudinesco has declared her support for Abdullah Öcalan’s call for peace. In a letter to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), she wrote that the initiative is of great importance not only for Turkey and the Kurds, but also for Europe and the international community.
“I unreservedly support the call for peace and coexistence between Kurds and Turks, because only in this way can true democracy emerge in our complex world. This peace process is more necessary today than ever before—for the world and especially for Europe. I hope that many other intellectuals, thinkers, and politicians will join in,” the letter reads.
Elisabeth Roudinesco (born in Paris in 1944) is one of France’s best-known psychoanalysts. She gained international renown primarily through her work on the history of psychoanalysis and her highly acclaimed biographies of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan.
She studied literature and humanities, earned her doctorate under the supervision of Jean Levaillant, and wrote her master’s thesis under Tzvetan Todorov. Between 1969 and 1981, she was a member of the École Freudienne de Paris, founded by Jacques Lacan. At the same time, she was involved with the literary magazine Action Poétique.
For decades, Roudinesco has been a defining voice in French and international psychoanalytic discourse. In addition to academic publications, she regularly published essays and commentaries in major daily newspapers such as Libération and Le Monde. Today, she is considered one of France’s most important intellectuals, linking psychoanalytic issues with cultural and socio-political debates.