Cynthia Haven, author of Evolution of Desire, a biography of René Girard, begins this obituary tribute after the 2005 death of the founder of mimetic theory with these words: “René Girard was one of the leading thinkers of our era – a provocative sage who bypassed prevailing orthodoxies and “isms” to offer a bold, sweeping vision of human nature, human history and human destiny.” It begins a beautifully written ode to one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century.
By the time Girard died at his home in Stanford on Nov. 4, 2005–just a short time before the terrorist attacks in Paris—he had been inducted as one of 40 immortals into the Académie Française and dubbed by his colleague Michael Serres, a fellow inductee, the “new Darwin of the social sciences.”
Girard, always witty despite the seriousness of his thinking, remarked during his induction ceremony into the Académie how funny it was to be called an immortal when, looking around at all of the deceased former members and current elderly members, it was clear that of all the things you could say about members of the Académie, immortal should not be one of them!
Click here to read Cynthia Haven’s beautiful piece: René Girard’s Obituary Tribute