Topics
Factual overviews of the main subjects of André Chouraqui's life and work
André Chouraqui and Nostra Aetate
André Chouraqui (1917–2007) was one of the Jewish figures involved in the rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people that led to Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration of the Second Vatican Council. From 1960 he worked closely with Jules Isaac as Isaac prepared the document he presented to Pope John XXIII, which became a starting point for the declaration.
Interfaith dialogue between Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims was at the centre of André Chouraqui's life. He co-founded the Amitié Judéo-Chrétienne and the Fraternité d'Abraham in France, founded and led interfaith committees in Israel, and translated the scriptures of all three monotheistic religions into French.
The Chouraqui Bible translation
André Chouraqui translated the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament into French, seeking to restore the Semitic roots and original flavour of the text. His Bible appeared in 26 volumes from 1974, in a single volume in 1985, and in a definitive edition from Cerf in 2019.
The Chouraqui translation of the Qur'an
André Chouraqui, a Jewish scholar, translated the Qur'an into French with a commentary. Completed in 1987 and reviewed by a multi-faith commission and with Dr. Mahmoud Azab of Al-Azhar University, it was published by Robert Laffont in 1990 as Le Coran — L'Appel, completing his translations of the sacred texts of the three monotheistic religions.
Adviser to Ben-Gurion and the State of Israel
From 1959 to 1963 André Chouraqui was adviser to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on the integration of Jews from Muslim countries and on intercommunal relations, for a symbolic salary of one pound a year. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the creation of the State of Israel and devoted much of his work to it.
André Chouraqui and Jerusalem
André Chouraqui lived in Jerusalem from 1958 until his death in 2007. He was Deputy Mayor under Teddy Kollek from 1965, in charge of culture and interfaith relations, was named Honorary Citizen of Jerusalem in 1996, and a square in the city bears his name since 2021.
North African Jewry and the Alliance Israélite Universelle
Born in 1917 in Aïn Témouchent, Algeria, into a family descended from Spanish Jewish rabbis and scholars, André Chouraqui became a historian of North African Jewry and, from 1947, a leader of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, whose schools and communities he visited across North Africa and some 80 countries.