Bernard-Henri Lévy, commonly known as BHL, is a French public intellectual born on November 5, 1948, in Béni Saf, French Algeria, into an affluent Sephardic Jewish family. His mother was Dina Siboni, and his father, André Lévy, founded and managed the timber company Becob, becoming a multimillionaire. The family moved to Paris shortly after his birth and relocated to the Paris suburb of Neuilly in 1954. An academic standout, he attended Lycée Pasteur, participated in elite khâgne preparatory classes, and studied at the École Normale Supérieure, a prestigious institution producing many French intellectuals. He also achieved a black belt in judo as a young man. Lévy launched his career as a war reporter for the historic newspaper Combat, founded by Albert Camus, before emerging as a leader of the 'Nouveaux Philosophes' movement in 1976, challenging Marxist ideologies. A multifaceted figure, he works as a philosopher, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and film director, with credits including 'Day and Night' and 'Les Derniers Jours de Charles Baudelaire'. His activism spans global conflicts; he has supported Ukraine against Russia and defended Israel in the Hamas war, controversially stating in Le Figaro and the Wall Street Journal that civilian deaths in Gaza do not constitute a massacre and rejecting genocide claims, drawing criticism for these positions. His publications and interventions have fueled ongoing debates and controversies throughout his career.