Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (born 4 April 1945) is a Franco-German activist and politician who rose to prominence as a student leader during the May 1968 protests in France, earning the moniker "Dany the Red" for his radical left-wing stance.[1][2] Born in Montauban, France, to German-Jewish parents who had fled Nazi persecution, Cohn-Bendit held dual citizenship and became a symbol of the generational revolt against authority, contributing to widespread strikes involving millions of workers.[3] Deemed a threat to public order, he was expelled from France by President Charles de Gaulle's government but continued activism in Germany.[4] In the 1970s, Cohn-Bendit engaged in far-left movements in Frankfurt, including with future German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, before shifting toward environmentalism and European integration.[5] Elected to the European Parliament in 1994 representing the German Greens, he served continuously until 2014, alternating between French and German lists, and co-presided the Greens–European Free Alliance group from 2004 to 2014, advocating for federalist reforms and ecological policies.[6][7] His political evolution from revolutionary socialism to pro-EU green liberalism has been noted for its pragmatism, though criticized by former comrades as opportunistic. Cohn-Bendit's career includes notable controversies, particularly passages in his 1975 book Le Grand Bazar, where, recounting his time as a kindergarten assistant, he described instances of young girls touching his genitals and portrayed such child-initiated contact as potentially "fabulous," framing it within a critique of repressive sexual norms.[8] These writings, intended to provoke debate on children's sexuality during the post-1968 liberationist era, resurfaced during his electoral campaigns in 2001 and 2009, prompting accusations of endorsing pedophilic ideas despite his denials of any abusive intent and lack of legal charges; he maintained the accounts were exaggerated for effect to challenge bourgeois taboos.[9] This episode highlights tensions between 1960s radicalism and contemporary standards, with sources varying in emphasis due to ideological alignments.
Early Life and Background
Family Origins and Childhood
Daniel Cohn-Bendit was born on April 4, 1945, in Montauban, France, to German-Jewish parents who had fled Nazi persecution by emigrating from Germany to France in 1933.[10][11] His father, Erich Cohn-Bendit, was a Berlin-based lawyer with antifascist leanings who opposed the Nazi regime.[12] The family had sought refuge in southern France during World War II, where Cohn-Bendit was born just days before the war's end in Europe.[11] Following the war, the Cohn-Bendit family relocated to Paris, where young Daniel attended the Lycée Buffon until 1958.[13] His parents separated, with his father returning to Germany, leading Cohn-Bendit to join him there in 1958 amid shifting family circumstances.[13] Born stateless due to his parents' refugee status, Cohn-Bendit acquired German citizenship in 1959 at age 14, a decision influenced by the desire to avoid compulsory French military service.[14][13] Cohn-Bendit's early years in post-war France exposed him to a milieu shaped by his family's antifascist heritage and the broader leftist intellectual currents of the liberation era, including discussions of social reconstruction and resistance narratives prevalent in Jewish émigré and French progressive circles.[2] This environment, combined with the familial emphasis on opposition to authoritarianism, laid foundational influences on his worldview prior to adolescence.[12]Education and Early Influences
Cohn-Bendit completed his secondary education at the Odenwaldschule, a progressive boarding school in Heppenheim near Frankfurt, Germany, where he obtained his Abitur in 1965.[3][15] The school's emphasis on self-directed learning and critique of traditional authority, rooted in reform pedagogy, exposed him to libertarian educational models that contrasted with conventional French lycées.[16] In 1966, following his high school graduation, he returned to France and enrolled in sociology at the University of Paris X Nanterre, though he did not earn a degree.[17] His studies coincided with growing exposure to radical social theories, including those of Frankfurt School figures like Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse, whose critiques of capitalism and authoritarianism resonated amid post-war European intellectual currents; Cohn-Bendit encountered these ideas through readings and proximity to Frankfurt during his German schooling.[18] Early interactions with working-class environments, including observations of immigrant laborers in industrial areas around Frankfurt and Paris, reinforced his anti-authoritarian perspectives by highlighting socioeconomic disparities and bureaucratic rigidities in labor markets.[19] These experiences, combined with his binational upbringing, fostered a skepticism toward state institutions and hierarchical structures, setting the stage for his later intellectual engagements.[20]Student Activism in France
Involvement at Nanterre University
The University of Paris X at Nanterre, established in 1964 as an experimental suburban campus extension of the Sorbonne, aimed to foster innovative pedagogy and egalitarian student life amid France's post-war educational expansion.[21] However, by 1967, tensions escalated over restrictive dormitory policies enforcing strict gender segregation, limiting male students' access to female residences, alongside protests against the Vietnam War and perceived administrative authoritarianism.[22] These issues highlighted broader student grievances regarding co-education implementation and societal constraints on personal freedoms.[23] Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a German-French sociology student at Nanterre, emerged as a prominent agitator within radical student circles, including the self-styled Enragés group, which challenged university hierarchies and conservative norms.[24] On January 8, 1968, during the opening of a new campus swimming pool, Cohn-Bendit publicly confronted Youth and Sports Minister François Missoffe, denouncing the government's "White Book" on youth issues as akin to authoritarian propaganda and demanding unrestricted dorm access to expose hypocrisies in bourgeois sexual mores.[22] Missoffe's retort—suggesting Cohn-Bendit swim to "cool off"—further amplified the incident, cementing Cohn-Bendit's reputation as a defiant voice against institutional repression.[22] These confrontations fueled ongoing unrest, culminating in a March 22, 1968, occupation of Nanterre's administrative building by approximately 150 students, led by Cohn-Bendit, in solidarity with peers arrested days earlier during a Vietnam War demonstration.[25] The action birthed the Mouvement du 22 Mars, a loose coalition rejecting traditional leftist structures in favor of direct action against university and societal complacency, with Cohn-Bendit as its outspoken coordinator.[25] His arrests during these campus clashes, including the occupation, intensified scrutiny on Nanterre as a locus of anti-establishment fervor, positioning him as a symbol of resistance to perceived bourgeois double standards in education and morality.[26]Escalation to May 1968 Protests
In March 1968, protests at Nanterre University escalated following the arrest of students demonstrating against the Vietnam War, culminating in the occupation of the administrative tower by around 150 self-described anarchist students on March 22. This event spurred the creation of the Movement of 22 March, with Daniel Cohn-Bendit emerging as one of its principal leaders due to his outspoken criticism of university administration and societal norms.[27] Classes at Nanterre were suspended shortly thereafter, from March 29 to 30, as authorities sought to quell the unrest, but underlying grievances over coeducation restrictions, exam structures, and political repression persisted.[27] By late April, renewed activism led to Cohn-Bendit's arrest on April 27, intensifying student anger and drawing media attention to his role as a vocal agitator.[27] On May 2, following further clashes and the arrest of protest leaders, Nanterre was indefinitely closed by university officials, redirecting militant students to the Sorbonne in central Paris.[25] The next day, May 3, demonstrators gathered at the Sorbonne demanding the release of detainees and institutional reforms, resulting in police intervention and the arrest of approximately 600 students, which radicalized the movement and spread it across Paris.[25] Cohn-Bendit's public addresses at the occupied Sorbonne, including a notable speech in the courtyard declaring the occupation a unprecedented student seizure of the historic site, galvanized participants by framing it as a direct challenge to Gaullist authority.[28] His appearances on television and in print media further amplified calls for sweeping changes, including university democratization, opposition to bourgeois morality, and revolutionary restructuring of society, positioning him as a symbolic catalyst dubbed "Dany le Rouge" by the press.[29] As campus mobilizations expanded, Cohn-Bendit advocated alliances with industrial workers and sympathetic intellectuals, portraying the protests as a unified front against capitalist exploitation and state repression rather than isolated academic disputes. Efforts to bridge student radicals with labor unions, such as joint marches and shared platforms critiquing the Fifth Republic's hierarchies, began laying groundwork for broader participation, though initial focus remained on student-led escalation.[30][31]Leadership in the May 1968 Events
Key Actions and Public Role
During the escalation of protests in mid-May 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit emerged as a central figure among student activists, earning the nickname "Dany le Rouge" for his fiery red hair and radical leftist stance.[32] [2] As spokesman for the March 22 Movement, he coordinated the occupation of the Sorbonne University following its closure on May 3, transforming it into a hub for assemblies and demands against educational hierarchies and state authority.[4] His public interventions amplified the movement's visibility, including speeches urging broader societal rupture beyond university reforms. On the night of May 10–11, known as the "Night of the Barricades," Cohn-Bendit directed efforts to erect over 60 barricades in Paris's Latin Quarter using cobblestones, cars, and debris, leading clashes with police that injured hundreds and drew international attention.[33] Standing atop barricades, he called for disciplined resistance while advocating escalation to involve workers, emphasizing self-organization over hierarchical unions.[33] These actions symbolized defiance, inspiring copycat occupations and street battles across France, though Cohn-Bendit critiqued spontaneous violence in favor of strategic coordination. Cohn-Bendit pushed for student-worker alliances, joining the May 13 mass march with union leaders under banners proclaiming unity, and repeatedly called for a general strike to cripple the economy and force government concessions.[30] These appeals contributed to unions' decision for a one-day strike on May 13, which ballooned into wildcat actions involving up to 10 million workers by late May, halting production in key sectors like automotive and aviation and bringing France's economy to a standstill.[34] Interactions with the de Gaulle administration were limited and acrimonious; Cohn-Bendit sought dialogues but faced refusals, positioning himself as the regime's chief antagonist through media confrontations that highlighted failed negotiations and demands for power-sharing councils.[4] This near-collapse of state functions underscored the protests' scale, with factories occupied and transport paralyzed, though student-union ties remained tenuous due to differing goals.[30]Government Response and Expulsion
The French government, amid escalating unrest during the May 1968 protests, targeted Daniel Cohn-Bendit for his leadership in student agitation at Nanterre and Paris, declaring him a séditieux étranger ("seditious alien") on May 22, 1968, due to his German citizenship acquired in 1959.[35][36] This administrative measure, invoked under residency laws for non-citizens, facilitated his immediate expulsion to West Germany, where he was escorted to the border near Saint-Nazaire amid heightened security to prevent further disruption.[36][37] Interior Minister Christian Fouchet justified the action as necessary to restore order, citing Cohn-Bendit's role in inciting occupations and clashes that had mobilized thousands.[37] Cohn-Bendit quickly attempted re-entry on May 25, 1968, approaching the Franco-German border at Forbach with supporters, but French police permitted only brief access before deporting him again in a police vehicle after he refused to sign expulsion papers.[37] These border incidents sparked protests on both sides, with crowds chanting solidarity slogans and clashing lightly with authorities, underscoring transborder sympathies among activists but also the French state's resolve to bar his influence.[37][38] Further clandestine return efforts in late May faced similar blockades, mobilizing significant police resources and highlighting the expulsion's role in signaling the protests' containment.[39] The government's response drew polarized reactions: conservative figures and Gaullist allies portrayed Cohn-Bendit's expulsion as a justified curb on foreign-instigated anarchy that had paralyzed universities and threatened public order, attributing the unrest's chaos to libertarian excesses rather than systemic grievances.[37] In contrast, left-wing militants decried it as authoritarian suppression of a nascent revolutionary wave, with supporters framing the move as emblematic of de Gaulle's regime prioritizing stability over democratic expression, though the action exposed fractures in sustaining widespread mobilization.[39][38] These immediate dynamics revealed the protests' vulnerability to targeted state interventions against key figures, limiting their momentum without broader institutional collapse.Post-1968 Period in Germany
Settlement in Frankfurt and Radical Activities
Following his expulsion from France on May 23, 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who held German citizenship acquired in 1959, relocated to Frankfurt am Main, where he continued his political engagement within West Germany's radical left milieu.[40][32] In Frankfurt, he immersed himself in the extraparliamentary opposition (APO), a loose coalition of anti-establishment groups opposing the Grand Coalition government and advocating grassroots resistance against perceived authoritarianism in both state and society.[40] His activities included participation in the nascent anti-authoritarian faction of the movement, which emphasized spontaneous action over hierarchical organization, distinguishing itself from the more doctrinaire elements of the Socialist German Student League (SDS).[5] Cohn-Bendit aligned with the Revolutionary Struggle (Revolutionärer Kampf) group, co-founded around 1970–1971 alongside figures like Joschka Fischer, focusing on factory agitation and critiques of capitalist structures through direct intervention, such as attempts to organize workers at the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt.[5][41] He delivered speeches and interventions that sustained revolutionary rhetoric, urging sustained mobilization against imperialism and bourgeois democracy while cautioning against the German left's drift toward dogmatic authoritarianism, which he contrasted with the more fluid, libertarian impulses of the 1968 uprisings.[40] These efforts positioned him as a bridge between French May events and German radicalism, though tensions arose over ideological purity, with Cohn-Bendit advocating pragmatic, non-sectarian approaches amid rising factionalism.[42]Work in Education and Publishing
Following his expulsion from France, Cohn-Bendit settled in Frankfurt and engaged in educational work within the city's alternative "Kinderläden" movement, serving as a kindergarten teacher and helper starting around 1969.[43][44] These self-organized, anti-authoritarian kindergartens aimed to liberate children from conventional disciplinary structures, emphasizing self-determination and critiquing bourgeois family norms; Cohn-Bendit's involvement there directly informed his later arguments for dismantling adult-child power imbalances in education.[45][40] Parallel to this, Cohn-Bendit worked in a Frankfurt bookshop and co-founded the autonomist group Revolutionärer Kampf in the early 1970s, alongside figures like Joschka Fischer, focusing on uniting students and workers through squatting, street actions, and agitation against capitalist institutions.[40][46] The group, based initially in Rüsselsheim, represented a radical extension of post-1968 activism but included militant elements, such as the Putzgruppe, which engaged in confrontational tactics.[47] By the late 1970s, Cohn-Bendit's experiences with radical circles exposed him to sympathizers of armed groups like the Red Army Faction (RAF), prompting a shift toward rejecting terrorism as counterproductive; in 1978, he became publisher and editor-in-chief of Pflasterstrand, a Frankfurt alternative magazine where he explicitly criticized left-wing violence and advocated for non-violent reform within the Sponti (spontaneous) scene.[48][49] This editorial role marked his transition from pure militancy to institutional critique, highlighting the futility of escalating confrontation in achieving social change.[48]Transition to Environmental and Green Politics
Joining the German Greens
In 1984, Daniel Cohn-Bendit affiliated with Die Grünen, Germany's emerging Green Party, which emphasized anti-nuclear policies, opposition to militarism, environmentalism, and pacifist stances amid Cold War tensions over NATO deployments.[10][50] This move coincided with the Sponti (spontaneous) movement's acceptance of parliamentary engagement, reflecting Cohn-Bendit's shift toward institutionalized activism after years of extra-parliamentary radicalism.[48] Within the party, Cohn-Bendit positioned himself as a leading "Realo" (realist), prioritizing practical governance and compromise over the "Fundi" (fundamentalist) faction's demands for unwavering ideological adherence and rejection of coalitions with establishment parties.[50] He vocally opposed eco-socialist tendencies that subordinated ecological goals to Marxist class analysis, arguing instead for citizen-driven initiatives focused on concrete issues like nuclear disarmament and urban sustainability.[50][5] During the mid-1980s, Cohn-Bendit engaged in Frankfurt's local political scene through Die Grünen, supporting electoral efforts that highlighted grassroots participation rather than revolutionary rhetoric, though specific candidacies yielded limited personal success amid the party's nascent organizational challenges. These activities underscored tensions between the party's idealistic base and pragmatic elements seeking broader appeal, with Cohn-Bendit advocating realism to transform Die Grünen from protest movement to viable political force.[5][50]Early Campaigns and Positions
Cohn-Bendit joined the German Green Party (Die Grünen) in 1984, aligning with its realist ("Realo") wing, which emphasized pragmatic governance over ideological purity.[40] He quickly engaged in local politics in Frankfurt, where he had settled after the 1968 events, serving as a representative on the city council and becoming faction leader of the Greens in the city parliament from 1989 to 1994.[40] In this role, he advocated for coalitions with mainstream parties to advance environmental and social agendas, critiquing the party's eco-socialist fundamentalists for their rigid opposition to compromise, which he argued hindered effective policy implementation.[40] This stance positioned him as a bridge between radical environmentalism and broader societal reforms, including urban sustainability initiatives amid Frankfurt's growth as a financial hub.[51] A key focus of his early advocacy was multicultural integration, as head of Frankfurt's office for multicultural affairs, where he pushed for policies supporting immigrant communities, such as improved access to services and anti-discrimination measures, reflecting his view that diverse urban populations required proactive inclusion rather than assimilationist demands.[40] [52] He supported immigration reforms to facilitate legal pathways and social cohesion, balancing these with environmental concerns like sustainable city planning to accommodate population influxes without straining resources.[53] Cohn-Bendit also endorsed European Union integration as a framework for cross-border cooperation on ecological and social challenges, arguing it enabled shared standards on issues like pollution control and worker mobility, consistent with his federalist outlook.[40] Despite the Green Party's electoral fluctuations in the late 1980s and early 1990s—marked by internal debates and varying local vote shares—Cohn-Bendit's pragmatic approach helped amplify the party's influence in Frankfurt through targeted advocacy rather than isolationism.[54] He critiqued both far-left dogmatism within the Greens, which risked alienating voters, and conservative resistance to progressive reforms, positioning the party as a viable alternative capable of real-world impact.[40] These efforts contributed to incremental gains, such as embedding multicultural and green urban policies into local discourse, even as the party navigated coalition opportunities in Hesse and beyond.[51]European Parliament Involvement
Elections and Terms Served
Daniel Cohn-Bendit was first elected to the European Parliament in the 1994 elections representing France on the Les Verts list, securing a seat for the 4th parliamentary term (1994–1999).[55] He was re-elected in the 1999 European elections as the lead candidate for Les Verts, which obtained 9.72% of the vote, serving during the 5th term (1999–2004).[40] In 2004, Cohn-Bendit switched to running on the German Greens list and was re-elected, representing Germany for the 6th term (2004–2009).[1] For the 2009 elections, he returned to the French list as co-lead candidate for the Europe Écologie coalition alongside Eva Joly, achieving 16.28% of the vote and securing re-election for the 7th term (2009–2014).[1] [56] Throughout his tenure from July 19, 1994, to July 1, 2014, Cohn-Bendit served continuously as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).[57] From 2004 to 2014, he co-chaired the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the Parliament.[58] Following his retirement from the European Parliament in 2014, Cohn-Bendit was granted French citizenship on May 25, 2015, having previously held German nationality despite being born in France.[32] This naturalization occurred nearly 50 years after his expulsion from France in 1968.[32]