Long biography
Childhood and intellectual formation
June 3, 1962 • Born in Tananarive (Madagascar).
1964 • His parents return to France. They decide to raise their four children in the countryside, in Dourdan in Essonne.
1970-1979 • Installation in Paris. A turbulent student and reluctant to study at school, Frédéric changes high schools three times. As a teenager, he discovered authors like Hesse and Dostoyevsky who awakened him to existential questions. He began to become passionate about philosophy while reading Plato's Symposium.
1980-1985 • The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung left a profound mark on his intellectual journey and stimulated his desire to better understand the great myths and religions of humanity. Initially interested in astrology and oriental spiritualities, notably Tibetan Buddhism, he became interested in Kabbalah and took courses in symbolism on Hebrew letters. Although very liberal, his Catholic education left him with rather bad memories – too much emphasis on dogma and morality – and Christianity did not interest him. At 19, he read the Gospels for the first time. It's a real shock. With his childhood friend, Emmanuel Rouvillois, who later became a monk under the name Brother Samuel, he began studying philosophy at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland. He carried out a spiritual quest which led him to stay in India, in Israel, in hermitages and Christian monasteries in France. While continuing his studies in philosophy, he spent a little over three years in the Saint Jean Community founded by Father MD Philippe.
1986-1990 • He began his professional life as collection director at Éditions Fayard and published as author several works of interviews or investigations on philosophical and spiritual themes.
1991 • He resigned from his position as editor to devote himself to writing and his doctoral thesis at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS) on Buddhism in the West (which he obtained with the congratulations of the jury unanimously).
1992 • He becomes an associate researcher at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences. Following Edgar Morin, one of his intellectual masters, he approaches religion in a multidisciplinary approach combining philosophy, sociology and history.
Professional activities
Press
Between 2004 and 2013, he directed the editorial staff of the magazine Le Monde des religions (bimonthly belonging to the Le Monde ) which offers a secular and cultural approach to religion. Previously, he regularly collaborated with L'Express and Psychologies Magazine . Under his leadership, the magazine quickly went from a paid circulation of 30,000 to 60,000 copies per issue. He resigned from his position in 2013 to devote more time to writing.
TV
In 1998, he wrote and co-directed for 5 a 5×52' documentary series devoted to the sectarian phenomenon in the world: Sects, lies and ideals . He will be the author of several other TV documentaries. Between 2019 and 2021, he wrote and co-directed Les Chemins du sacre , a documentary film shot in 12 countries on 5 continents. The 90-minute film and the 5x52' series were broadcast on air and on Arte.tv in April 2021 and April 2022. The rebroadcast of the 5 episodes is available until 7/10/22 on Arte. tv .
Radio
In 2008, he created the show Les Racines du ciel on France culture. He produced and hosted this weekly show devoted to spirituality with Leili Anvar for eight years. He resigned in 2016 to devote himself to the creation of the SEVE association .
Theater
In 2009, he co-wrote with Louis-Michel Colla the play Bonté Divine , directed by Christophe Lidon, with Roland Giraud in the lead role. The play enjoyed a triumph in Paris (at the Théâtre de la Gaité Montparnasse), but also in the provinces, and it was performed uninterruptedly from its creation in January 2009 until March 2011. It was adapted in 5 other countries . In 2012, he wrote the play Renaissance (directed by Christophe Luthringer) which was performed in Paris at the Théâtre de la Renaissance.
Movie theater
April 2019 • cinema release of the documentary film “ The Circle of Little Philosophers ”, directed by Cécile Denjean, which followed Frédéric Lenoir giving philosophy and meditation workshops in two classes in the Paris region for a school year.
Comic
The Prophecy of the Two Worlds . Saga in 4 volumes. Screenplay by Frédéric Lenoir . Designer: Alexis Chabert. Publisher: Albin Michel
L'Elu , the fabulous destiny of George W. Bush. Screenplay by Frédéric Lenoir . Designer: Alexis Chabert. Publisher: L'Echo des Savanes
L'Oracle della luna, 5 volumes . Screenplay by Frédéric Lenoir. Co-writer: Rodolphe (for volumes 3, 4, 5). Designer: Griffo
Holy God!
Books
Between 1987 and 2019, Frédéric Lenoir published around fifty works, encyclopedias, interview books, essays and novels, sold more than 10 million copies and translated into around twenty languages. In 2016, the magazine L'Obs established a ranking with the GFK institute which revealed that Frédéric Lenoir is the French intellectual who sold the most books over the previous 5 years.
Commitments
Ecology and animal welfare
1991 • He publishes The Time of Responsibility , (afterword by Paul Ricoeur), a book of interviews with around ten personalities on the resurgence of ethical concerns in our societies faced with major new challenges, notably that of ecology.
1992 • He participated in the founding of the “Environnement sans frontières” association.
2003 • Publication of a book of interviews with his friend Hubert Reeves, Mal de Terre , which raises a cry of alarm in the face of the threats weighing on the planet.
2012 • He publishes The Healing of the World , in which he denounces the quantitative and mercantile logic of our society and reflects on avenues that favor respect for the earth and people to avoid the catastrophe towards which we are heading.
2013 • With the 30 million friends , he invested in the animal cause and co-signed with 23 intellectuals a manifesto to modify article 528 of the Civil Code which defines animals as “movable property”. The ensuing petition collected 800,000 signatures. The amendment was finally adopted by the National Assembly on 01/28/2015. He recognizes animals as “living beings endowed with sensitivity”.
2017 • Publication of an Open Letter to Animals and creation of the Ensemble pour les Animaux which aims to reflect on the relationship between man and animal and to defend, in conjunction with other associations, major causes on animal condition. In June 2018, the association is organizing a major conference at the National Assembly on the animal welfare of farmed animals and is currently working on the project to create an ethical label.
Solidarities
2011 • He becomes the sponsor of the association Le Pari solidaire , founded by Aude Messéan, which creates links of intergenerational solidarity by connecting isolated elderly people and the low-income students they host. Since then, he has become the sponsor or partner of several associations:
- General Fraternity
- Seeds of the future
- The magicians of Ôse
- We take action
Education
2016 • Publication of Philosophizing and meditating with children . At the same time, creation with Martine Roussel-Adam of the SEVE Foundation , Knowing Being and Living Together (under the aegis of the Fondation de France), whose main mission is to train facilitators of philosophy and meditation workshops in schools. In November 2017, SEVE received approval from the Ministry of National Education. Between 2016 and 2022, SEVE trained more than 5,000 facilitators in France and more than 1,000 in Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Morocco.