Doris Bensimon


Doris Bensimon was an Austrian-born French sociologist and academic whose research focused on the study of contemporary Judaism. She taught at the University of Caen and Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales.

Early life and education

Doris Donath was born in 1924 in Vienna, Austria. Her father was Robert Donath,. After the Anschluss, the Donath family left Austria and removed to Antwerp, before coming to Lille, France, where it was protected by the Préfet du Nord. On September 11, 1942, Robert was deported by Convoy No. 31 to Auschwitz via Drancy internment camp, where he was killed, at age 59. With her mother, Bensimon took refuge in Lyon.
Bensimon received a State doctorate.

Career

Bensimon became a researcher at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique where she was responsible for the team working on the sociology of Judaism, within the Groupe de Sociologie des Religions. She also became a professor at the University of Caen and at INALCO in Paris.

Personal life

Bensimon died on December 8, 2009 in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. She is buried next to her husband, in the Cimetière parisien de Pantin.

Selected works