29 Facts About Bernard Kouchner

Bernard Kouchner was born on 1 November 1939 and is a French politician and doctor.

Bernard Kouchner is the co-founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres and Medecins du Monde.

Since 2015 Bernard Kouchner is workstream leader for the AMU, where he contributes his expertise in healthcare.

Bernard Kouchner was born in Avignon, to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother.

Bernard Kouchner's paternal grandparents were Russian-born Jews who escaped the pogroms by immigrating to France, but perished decades later in Auschwitz.

Bernard Kouchner began his political career as a member of the French Communist Party, from which he was expelled in 1966 for attempting to overthrow the leadership.

Bernard Kouchner worked as a physician for the Red Cross in Biafra in 1968.

Bernard Kouchner worked as a humanitarian volunteer during the Siege of Naba'a refugee camp in Lebanon in East Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War taking risks that "other foreign aid workers weren't, even worked closely with the Shia cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr".

From 1988, Bernard Kouchner began his government career in Socialist governments, though he was not always a member of the Socialist Party.

Bernard Kouchner became "Secretaire d'etat", a lower position in the Cabinet, for Humanitarian Action in 1988 in the Michel Rocard cabinet, then Minister of Health under Pierre Beregovoy in 1992, during Mitterrand's presidency.

Bernard Kouchner continued his political career in the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997.

Together with Judge Andree Ruffo, Bernard Kouchner established the International Bureau for Children's Rights, a non-governmental organization based in Montreal, in 1994.

When Lionel Jospin became Prime Minister in 1997, Bernard Kouchner became Minister of Health for the second time.

Bernard Kouchner became at this time Minister of Health for the third time, until the 2002 elections.

In 2005, Bernard Kouchner was a candidate for the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but lost the appointment in favor of former Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Guterres, who was nominated by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

In 2006, Bernard Kouchner was a candidate to become Director-General of the World Health Organization.

Bernard Kouchner lost before the final election round, and Chinese candidate Margaret Chan was later elected.

Bernard Kouchner has since been expelled from the Socialist Party for his acceptance of the post.

Bernard Kouchner was dismissed in the November 2010 Fillon cabinet reshuffle.

Bernard Kouchner later became a fierce critic of how the occupation was conducted.

Bernard Kouchner supported the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty when it was threatened to be rejected by the Irish in referendum.

Bernard Kouchner commented that "It would be very, very awkward if we were not able to count on the Irish, who have often counted on Europe".

Bernard Kouchner's comments were dismissed as "unhelpful" by leading Irish politicians, and some media commentators have suggested that his remarks may have galvanised the "No" campaign in the run up to the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on 13 June 2008.

In 2012, Bernard Kouchner co-signed the George Soros call for a strengthening of the European prerogatives as an answer to the eurozone crisis.

Bernard Kouchner stated that France was committed to a diplomatic resolution and that no military action was planned, but that an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger for the whole world".

The chief UN nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency indirectly responded to Bernard Kouchner by characterizing talk of attacking Iran as "hype", saying the use of force should only be considered as a last resort and only if authorized by the UN Security Council.

On 18 September 2007, Bernard Kouchner attempted to respond to criticisms.

Bernard Kouchner denounced statements by Pope Benedict XVI claiming that condoms promoted AIDS, saying they were "the opposite of tolerance and understanding".

Bernard Kouchner has three children by his first wife, Evelyne Pisier, a law professor, and one child, Alexandre, by his present wife Christine Ockrent, a TV anchor and author.