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{{Short description|French academic and Holocaust denier (1929–2018)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Robert Faurisson
| image              = Robert Faurisson in 2014 (4x5 cropped).png
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Faurisson in 2014
| birth_name         = Robert Faurisson Aitken
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1929|1|25|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Shepperton]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2018|10|21|1929|1|25|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Vichy]], [[Allier]], France
| nationality        = French
| occupation         = Professor of literature
| known_for          = Holocaust denial
| criminal_charges   = Convicted of Holocaust denial in a French court
}}

'''Robert Faurisson''' ({{IPA|fr|foʁisɔ̃|lang}}; born '''Robert Faurisson Aitken'''; 25 January 1929 – 21 October 2018)<ref>[http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2018/10/22/97001-20181022FILWWW00079-le-negationniste-robert-faurisson-est-mort.php Le négationniste Robert Faurisson est mort] {{in lang|fr}}</ref> was a British-born French academic who became best known for [[Holocaust denial]]. Faurisson generated much controversy with several articles published in the ''[[Journal of Historical Review]]'' and elsewhere, and by letters to French newspapers, especially ''[[Le Monde]]'', which contradicted the history of [[the Holocaust]] by denying the existence of [[gas chambers]] in [[Nazi death camps]], the systematic killing of [[European Jews]] using gas during the [[World War II|Second World War]], and the authenticity of ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]''.<ref name=charny>{{cite book|last=Charny|first=Israel W.|title=Encyclopedia of Genocide|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=1999|isbn=9780874369281|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofge0000unse/page/182 182]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofge0000unse/page/182}}</ref> After the passing of the [[Gayssot Act]] against Holocaust denial in 1990, Faurisson was prosecuted and fined, and in 1991 he was dismissed from his academic post.<ref name=levy/>

==Early life and education==
Faurisson is believed to be one of seven children born in [[Shepperton]], [[Middlesex]], England to a French father and a Scottish mother.<ref>{{citation|last=Brigneau|author-link=François Brigneau|first=François|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/2678998/Mais-qui-est-donc-le-professeur-Faurisson-Francois-Brigneau-1992|title=Mais qui est donc le professeur Faurisson?|publisher=Publications FB|year=1992|access-date=30 May 2012|oclc=38790837|language=fr|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153401/https://www.scribd.com/doc/2678998/Mais-qui-est-donc-le-professeur-Faurisson-Francois-Brigneau-1992|url-status=dead}}{{page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref>

He studied [[French language|French]], Latin and Greek literature (''Lettres classiques''), and passed the [[agrégation]] (the highest competitive examination to qualify to be a secondary school teacher) in 1956. He became a [[lycée|high school]] teacher at [[Vichy]]. 

In Vichy, as a young teacher, he gained attention when he published an interpretation of [[Rimbaud]]'s ''[[Voyelles|Sonnet des voyelles]]'' as an erotic text. Around 1960, he developed political sympathies for the colonialist cause in Algeria (the ''[[Algérie française]]'' movement), and was arrested in the belief he was a member of the "[[Organisation armée secrète|OAS]]", a terrorist organisation.<ref>Henry Rousso, [http://www.lhistoire.fr/«-le-négationnisme-est-une-parole-de-haine-» « Le négationnisme est une parole de haine »], ''L'histoire'', no 294, 2004, p. 86-87. See also Henry Rousso, « The Political and Cultural Roots of Negationism in France », ''South Central Review'', vol. 23 « Fascism, Nazism : Cultural Legacies of Reaction », no 1, 2006, p. 67-88.</ref>

While teaching, he worked on a PhD thesis about the poet [[Lautréamont]]. He obtained his [[doctorate]] in 1972. The methodology of Faurisson was challenged during the defense of his thesis. The president of the jury, Jacques Robichez, declared: "Finally, I point out […] to the candidate that the method of reading the text as it is written; systematically ignoring the context, not taking into account the historical environment reflected by the language, is an unsustainable bias". In a 2021 book, the historian Stephanie Courouble-Share said that Faurisson's "literary method" would be repeated later when he wrote about the gas chambers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Courouble-Share |first=Stéphanie |title=Les idées fausses ne meurent jamais… Le négationnisme, histoire d'un réseau international |publisher=Le Bord de l'eau |others=Prefaced by Pascal Ory |year=2021 |isbn=978-2-356-87787-1 |location=Lormont |pages=173 |language=French}}</ref> Faurisson became a lecturer, and then professor of French literature at the [[University of Lyon]] in 1973.

==Holocaust denial==
In 1974, Faurisson contacted [[Yad Vashem]] with a lengthy letter detailing a variety of arguments which he claimed demonstrated that there had been no [[genocide]] of Jews during World War II.<ref name=levy/> These assertions were based on his own interpretation of archival records and his skepticism about the assertions and testimony of various historical figures, including Nazi officials such as [[Rudolf Höss]].<ref name=levy/>

He became involved with the [[Institute for Historical Review]] during the 1970s, lecturing and publishing prolifically.<ref name=levy/> He gave a lecture at the headquarters of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]] (the American [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] party) outside of Washington, on September 14, 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fresco |first=Nadine |date=Fall 1981 |orig-date=June 1980, Les Temps Modernes (in French) |title=The Denial of the Dead |url=http://www.anti-rev.org/textes/Fresco81a/ |journal=Dissent |language=English}}</ref> He twice testified in defense of Canadian-German Holocaust denier and [[Neo-Nazism|Neo-Nazi]] [[Ernst Zündel]], and his testimony has been associated with laying the groundwork for the "[[Leuchter Report]]", an influential Holocaust-denial publication.<ref name=levy/> Faurisson's activism garnered him several dedicated critics, including the Jewish French historian [[Pierre Vidal-Naquet]].<ref name=levy/>

===''The Diary of Anne Frank''===
In 1978, Faurisson authored a French-language text, "''The Diary of Anne Frank''{{snd}} Is It Authentic?".<ref name=frankdiary>Frank, Anne and Hardy, H.J.J. and Barnouw, David and van der Stroom, Gerrold. "''The Diary of Anne Frank'': The Revised Critical Edition" (2003, pp. 93-96)</ref> It appeared in [[Dutch language|Dutch-language]] translation in 1985, with the modified title, "''The Diary of Anne Frank''{{snd}} A Forgery".<ref name=frankdiary/> The text questioned the credibility of various elements in ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank]]''.

The website of the historian [[Deborah Lipstadt]], Holocaust Denial on Trial, argues that Faurisson's treatise ignored details within [[Anne Frank]]'s account that explain the aspects he deemed implausible, as well as observable details within the [[Anne Frank House]].<ref>{{cite web |title=How was it possible for Anne Frank, her family, and their friends to hide in the Secret Annex for 25 months without being discovered? |url=https://www.hdot.org/debunking-denial/af4-secret-annex/ |website=Holocaust Denial on Trial |publisher=Emory University |access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref>

Faurisson interviewed [[Otto Frank]] in researching the piece, though much of what Faurisson asserted Frank had said was later contradicted by Frank himself.<ref name=frankdiary/> Faurisson's writing on the subject first came into the spotlight during a court case between Otto Frank and [[Heinz Roth]], a publishing-house owner responsible for the circulation of various [[neo-Nazi]] writings, including several publications impugning the authenticity of Anne Frank's diary; Faurisson's writing on the subject was entered into the court record as an expert opinion in defense of Roth.<ref name=frankdiary/> The 1978 finding of the court was that Roth must refrain from publishing any further reading material claiming the diary was a fraud.<ref name=frankdiary/>

===Faurisson affair===
{{See also|Faurisson affair}}
During the [[Faurisson affair]] (1978–1979), the university administration suggested distance learning for Faurisson, although he was still attached to the university. In 1984, the president of the university forbade him to use the university letterhead in his private correspondence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Igounet |first=Valérie |title=Robert Faurisson : portrait d'un négationniste |publisher=Denoël |year=2012 |isbn=9782207259986 |location=Paris |pages=229–231 |language=French}}</ref>

One of Faurisson's works, ''Mémoire en défense'', was published in 1980, prefaced by an essay by [[Noam Chomsky]].<ref>[https://chomsky.info/19801011/ Some Elementary Comments on The Rights of Freedom of Expression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603180828/http://www.chomsky.info/articles/19801011.htm |date=3 June 2004 }} by [[Noam Chomsky]]; appeared as a Preface to Robert Faurisson, ''Mémoire en défense'', 11 October 1980.</ref><ref>Faurisson, Robert. [http://www.chire.fr/A-141777-memoires-en-defense-contre-ceux-qui-m-accusent-de-falsifier-l-histoire.aspx ''Mémoire en défense (contre ceux qui m'accusent de falsifier l'Histoire : la question des chambres à gaz)'']. Paris: La vieille taupe, 1 November 1980. 280 pp. {{ISBN|978-2903279035}}</ref> While Chomsky had given general approval for his essay to be reproduced by others, it was included without his knowledge.<ref name="manconsent">Mark Achbar & Peter Wintonick. ''Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media''. Zeitgeist Films, 1992.</ref> Chomsky's piece was a general defense of freedom of speech, including that of Faurisson. Chomsky stated that "I see no anti-Semitic implications in denial of the existence of gas chambers, or even denial of the Holocaust...I see no hint of anti-Semitic implications in Faurisson's work,"<ref>"Chomsky and the Neo-Nazis"</ref> and considered Faurisson as a "relatively apolitical liberal of some sort". Chomsky was accused of supporting Faurisson, rather than defending his right to free speech, which Chomsky denied. Noting that he had described the Holocaust as "the most fantastic outburst of collective insanity in human history", Chomsky argued that his views were "diametrically opposed" to those of Faurisson on the subject.<ref name="levy" /><ref>[https://chomsky.info/19810228/ "His Right to Say It"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010235944/http://www.chomsky.info/articles/19810228.htm |date=10 October 2014 }}, chomsky.info, ''[[The Nation]]'', 28 February 1981.</ref>

===Legal and other consequences===
Faurisson was fined by a French court in 1983, for having declared that "Hitler never ordered nor permitted that anyone be killed by reason of his race or religion."<ref name=charny/><ref name=Igounet>{{cite book|last=Igounet|first=Valérie|title=Histoire du négationnisme en France|publisher=Ed. du Seuil|location=Paris|year=2000|isbn=9782020354929|language=fr}}{{page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Humanite>{{citation|first=Sophie|last=Bouniot|url=https://www.humanite.fr/node/78542|title=Viscéralement antisémite, voilà ce que vous êtes M. Faurisson|work=L'Humanité|date=3 April 2007|access-date=7 May 2010|language=fr}}</ref>

In September 1989, Faurisson was beaten by unknown assailants claiming to be "The Sons of the Memory of the Jews", an organization about which nothing has been discovered either before or since the incident.<ref name=charny/> Faurisson had been walking his dog in a park in Vichy and was kicked and punched by three young men, breaking his jaw.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-17-mn-509-story.html|title=French Historian Who Dismisses Holocaust Is Beaten|work=Los Angeles Times|date=17 September 1989|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref>

Shortly after the [[Gayssot Act]]—a statute that prohibited Holocaust denial—was enacted in 1990, Faurisson was convicted of Holocaust denial in a French court.<ref name=levy>{{cite book|last=Levy|first=Richard S.|title=Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=2005|isbn=9781851094448|page=225}}</ref> In 1991, Faurisson was removed from his university chair under the Gayssot Act on the basis of his denialist views. He challenged the statute as a violation of international law, specifically the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]], at the [[Human Rights Committee]]. Faurisson filed a complaint with the [[United Nations Human Rights Committee]] in 1993; in 1996, the Committee rejected Faurisson's claim that France's prosecution of him was a violation of the [[First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]]. The Committee upheld the Gayssot Act as "serv[ing] the respect of the Jewish community to live free from fear of an atmosphere of anti-semitism" and necessary "to serve the struggle against racism and anti-semitism".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/undocs/html/550-1993.html|title=UN HRC views in case Faurisson v. France, No. 550/1993|publisher=umn.edu|access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref>

He challenged the statute as Faurisson was charged again in a trial on 11 July 2006. He was accused of denying the Holocaust in an interview with the [[Iran]]ian television station "[[Sahar TV|Sahar 1]]" in February 2005. On 3 October 2006, he was given a three-month probationary sentence and fined €7,500 for this offence.<ref>[https://www.humanite.fr/2006-10-04_Societe_L-essentiel,837884 "Négationnisme. Robert Faurisson condamné à trois mois avec sursis."]{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''[[L'Humanité]]'', 4 October 2006.</ref>

===Later life===
In December 2006, Faurisson gave a speech at the [[International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust]], which was sponsored by the government of Iran.<ref>[http://www.middleeast.org/launch/redirect.cgi?num=72&a=64 Full text of the speech of Professor Robert Faurisson at the Iran Holocaust Conference], 11 December 2006.</ref>

Over the years, Faurisson was superseded among French holocaust deniers by [[Roger Garaudy]], who was considered more accessible. Faurisson's falling out with several other Holocaust deniers contributed to his eclipse. Later on, as Garaudy fell ill, Faurisson regained prominence.<ref name="Franceculture">{{cite news|url=https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/mecaniques-du-complotisme/4-le-negationnisme-les-nouveaux-relais-4141771|title=Le négationnisme Épisode 1/4 : Les nouveaux relais| date=2020-01-21|newspaper=[[France Culture]]|access-date=2025-07-09|language=fr}}</ref> Beginning in late 2008, Faurisson became close to the comedian and political activist [[Dieudonné (comedian)|Dieudonné]], appearing with him publicly on stage and in video, and celebrating Faurisson's 80th birthday in his theater.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/2008-12-31/regardez-dieudonne-faurisson-ouverture-d-une-enquete-preliminaire/920/0/302921|title=REGARDEZ - Dieudonné-Faurisson: ouverture d'une enquête préliminaire, actualité Société: Le Point|publisher=Lepoint.fr|date=30 December 2008|access-date=30 May 2012|language=fr|archive-date=23 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223184703/http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/2008-12-31/regardez-dieudonne-faurisson-ouverture-d-une-enquete-preliminaire/920/0/302921|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rue89.com/2009/01/11/dieudonne-faurisson-le-pen-decryptage-du-trio-infernal|title=Dieudonné, Faurisson, Le Pen: décryptage du trio infernal|language=fr|publisher=Rue89|date=11 January 2009|access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lejdd.fr/cmc/societe/200901/dieudonne-s-enfonce-un-peu-plus_176189.html Dieudonné s'enfonce un peu plus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508095634/http://www.lejdd.fr/cmc/societe/200901/dieudonne-s-enfonce-un-peu-plus_176189.html |date=8 May 2009 }}. ''[[Le Journal du Dimanche]]'', 2 January 2009; accessed 9 January 2015.</ref> Dieudonné awarded Robert Faurisson an "insolent outcast" prize. The award was presented by one of Dieudonné's assistants, Jacky, dressed in a [[Nazi concentration camp|concentration camp]] uniform with a yellow badge. This earned Dieudonné a court conviction.<ref>[http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/societe/20091027.OBS5971/injures-antisemites-dieudonne-condamne-a-10-000-euros-d-amende.html "Injures" antisémites : Dieudonné condamné à 10.000 euros d'amende]. ''[[Le Nouvel Observateur]]'', 28 October 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2009/10/27/01011-20091027FILWWW00452-dieudonne-condamne-a-10000-d-amende.php ''Amende de 10.000€ pour Dieudonné''], [[Le Figaro]], 27 October 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2009/02/24/les-bons-amis-de-dieudonne_1159703_823448.html Les étranges amitiés de Dieudonné]. By [[Abel Mestre]] et [[Caroline Monnot]]. ''[[Le Monde]]'', 24 February 2009.</ref> In the years that followed and up to Faurisson's death, Dieudonné and writer [[Alain Soral]] kept associating with him and introducing his idea to new, younger French-speaking audiences.<ref name="Franceculture"/>

On 2 February 2012, Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] granted Faurisson an award for courage in [[Tehran, Iran]].<ref name=memri>{{cite web|title=Iranian 'Conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema' Honors Prominent French Holocaust Deniers|url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/51/6111.htm|publisher=MEMRI|access-date=28 June 2012|author=N. Maruani|author2=A. Savyon|format=Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No.802|date=23 February 2012}}</ref>

==Publications==
* '' A-t-on lu Rimbaud ?'', ''Bizarre'', no. 21–22, 1961. 2nd edition under the title ''A-t-on lu Rimbaud ? Suivi de l'Affaire Rimbaud'', Paris: J.J. Pauvert, 1971. 3rd edition published by [[La Vieille Taupe]], 1991.
* ''A-t-on bien lu Lautréamont ?'', Paris: Gallimard, 1972.
* ''La clé des Chimères et autres chimères de Nerval'', Paris: J.J. Pauvert, c.1977.
* ''Mémoire en défense: contre ceux qui m'accusent de falsifier l'histoire'', Paris: [[La Vieille Taupe]], 1980.
* (edited by [[Serge Thion]]) ''Vérité historique ou vérité politique : le dossier de l'affaire Faurisson : la question des chambres à gaz'', Paris: [[La Vieille Taupe]], 1980.
* ''Réponse à Pierre Vidal-Naquet'', Paris: La Vieille Taupe, 1982.
* "Chronique sèche de l'Épuration – Exécutions sommaires dans quelques communes de Charente limousine", ''Revue d'Histoire révisionniste'', no. 4, February–April 1991.
* ''Réponse à [[Jean-Claude Pressac]]'', published by [[Association des anciens amateurs de récits de guerre et d'holocauste|AAARGH]], 1993
* ''Écrits révisionnistes (1974–1998)'', 4 volumes, privately printed, 1999.
* (With [[Siegfried Verbeke]]) ''Het «Dagboek» van Anne Frank : een kritische benadering''

== Bibliography ==

* [[Deborah Lipstadt|Lipstadt]], Deborah E. (1993). ''Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory''. New York: Plume. {{ISBN|978-0-452-27274-3}}
* Fresco, Nadine (Fall 1981) [June 1980, ''Les Temps Modernes'' (in French)]. "The Denial of the Dead". ''Dissent''.
* [[Valérie Igounet|Igounet]], Valérie (2012). ''Robert Faurisson : portrait d'un négationniste'' (in French). Paris: Denoël. {{ISBN|978-2-207-25998-6}}.

==See also==

*[[Antisemitism]]
*[[Arthur Butz]]
*[[Roger Garaudy]]
*[[Pierre Guillaume]]
*[[Jean-Claude Pressac]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wikiquote-inline}}
*{{Commonscatinline}}

{{Historical revisionism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faurisson, Robert}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics from Surrey]]
[[Category:French people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Lyon]]
[[Category:United Nations Human Rights Committee case law]]
[[Category:French people convicted of Holocaust denial]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Institute for Historical Review]]