René-Samuel Sirat

René-Samuel Sirat was born in 1930 in Annaba

Sirat was born on 13 November 1930 in Bône, French Algeria, now Annaba. Arabic was his first language, and he learned French later. Because his father had fought at Verdun in World War I, he was allowed to attend school under the Vichy government.

In 1946 he moved to mainland France to study at the yeshiva in Aix-les-Bains. He then studied at the Jewish Seminary of France in Paris.

In 1952 he became a rabbi in Clermont-Ferrand and later in Toulouse, before returning to Paris to work as a rabbi and Hebrew teacher. He headed Hebrew studies at INALCO in Paris from 1965 to 1992 and co-founded the University Center for Jewish Studies. He was elected Chief Rabbi of France in 1980 and served from 1981 to 1988.

Sirat was active in dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims. He took part in the 1986 interfaith meeting in Assisi with Pope John Paul II, and in 1999 he co-founded an interreligious dialogue foundation in Geneva. He also served as founding president of the Rashi European University Institute in Troyes.

He later moved to Jerusalem and continued his public work. He died in Jerusalem on 10 February 2023.