Jeanne Hersch

Jeanne Hersch (Geneva, 1910–2000) was a Swiss philosopher of Polish-Jewish descent whose work centred on the concept of freedom. Trained in Geneva, with Karl Jaspers in Heidelberg and in Paris, she became one of the best-known philosophers writing in French in the twentieth century.

The daughter of Polish-Jewish immigrants linked to the Bund, a secular Jewish socialist movement, she grew up with ideas of social justice and democracy. She studied at the University of Geneva, and later worked closely with Jaspers, whose major books she translated into French. She taught philosophy, French and Latin at the International School of Geneva before becoming, in 1956, the first woman to hold a chair in philosophy at the University of Geneva. She then led UNESCO's philosophy division and represented Switzerland on its executive board.

For her, freedom was something the individual must defend against governments and ideologies that threaten it. In The Right to Be a Man (1968) she gathered texts from many cultures and periods on human dignity. Later books, such as Illuminating the Obscure and Philosophical Wonder, argued that clear language is the best way to reveal the depth and complexity of a concept, and that questioning apparent certainties is central to philosophy. Her influence endures mainly in French-speaking philosophy and in debates on human rights.