Sidney Chouraqui

Sidney Chouraqui was a French Resistance fighter and postwar activist for remembrance and education. During the Second World War, he was an internee at the Bedeau camp and later served in General Philippe Leclerc's 2nd Armoured Division. After the war, he cofounded the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and was one of the main driving forces behind the Camp des Milles Memorial project.

Early life and education Sidney Isaac Chouraqui was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, French Algeria, on 13 October 1914 to a father who was a grain farmer and miller. His father was mobilised in 1914 and fought in the Oriental Expeditionary Force that was deployed to the Dardanelles in 1915. In November, he participated in the formation of the 2nd Armoured Division under General Leclerc in Morocco and trained in England.

Post war Chouraqui was demobilised in 1945 and returned to Casablanca where he worked as a lawyer, specialising in international maritime law.

He died on 3 February 2018, at the age of 103.

Selected works