Christian Delacampagne, a professor of 20th-century French thought and literature in the Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures, succumbed to cancer on May 20 at his home in Paris. He was 58.
Delacampagne had joined the French faculty in 2002, bringing an eclectic background that included serving as director of French Cultural Centers in Barcelona, Madrid, Cairo, and Tel Aviv, and as cultural attaché in Boston for the French Foreign Service.
"Christian Delacam-pagne's many friends throughout the world can attest to his determination not simply to do philosophy but to live it," said Stephen Nichols, chair of the Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures.
A prolific writer who authored more than 30 books and contributed to dozens more, Delacampagne often explored human rights and civil liberties, publishing such works as Le Racisme (1976) with his mentor, Leon Poliakov, and Figures of Oppression (1977). His History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century (1995) is widely read and translated, as are many of his books. Even while fighting cancer, Delacampagne published three more books in the past year alone, including The World Belongs to Me: Fragments of a Nomadic Life, which ponders the diversity of languages and cultures that he encountered throughout his travels over the years.
He is survived by his wife and son.
