Leon Wieseltier is an American writer, literary critic, and magazine editor born on June 14, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York. He studied at Columbia University, Oxford University (where he was influenced by philosopher Isaiah Berlin), and Harvard University, becoming a member of Harvard's Society of Fellows in 1979. From 1983 to 2014, he served as the literary editor of The New Republic, where he shaped cultural discourse, championed writers, and contributed essays on politics, literature, ethics, the Bosnian War, and Jewish identity. Known for his erudition, neoconservative leanings, hawkish liberal interventionist views, and defense of liberal arts, Wieseltier became a central figure in Washington D.C.'s intellectual elite and elite social circles, as noted in a 1995 Vanity Fair profile that described him as a charismatic figure among celebrities. His literary career includes the acclaimed work 'Kaddish' (1998), a meditative study on Jewish mourning rites following the death of his father, and collaboration with Michelle Ajami to edit and publish Fouad Ajami's posthumous memoir. Wieseltier also appeared in minor acting roles, including in the TV series The Sopranos and the documentary Constantine's Sword. However, his career faced a major setback in 2017 amid the #MeToo movement when multiple women, including former female colleagues, accused him of sexual harassment and professional misconduct during his time at The New Republic, allegations he admitted to in a public statement. As a result, The Atlantic, where he had been a contributing editor and critic, fired him and removed him from the masthead; the incident also led to the cancellation of his planned magazine project with the Emerson Collective, founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. No criminal charges were filed, but the controversy ended his formal affiliations with major publications at the time and has left him a polarized figure, admired for his intellectual depth while criticized for the workplace culture he presided over. In 2020, he reemerged as the founder and editor of Liberties, a quarterly journal of culture and politics focused on ideas and culture, though his personal life and controversies have often overshadowed his intellectual contributions.