Kojève, Alexandre

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KOJÈVE, ALEXANDRE

KOJÈVE, ALEXANDRE (1902–1968), philosopher. Born in Russia, after the 1917 Revolution he studied in Berlin, and in the early 1930s moved to Paris. From 1933 to 1939 he taught at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. Kojève is best known for his book, Introduction à la lecture de Hegel (19622), which consists of the notes from his course compiled by the novelist Raymond Queneau, one of his students. It is considered one of the best studies of Hegel's phenomenology. Kojève is also the author of Tyrannie et Sagesse (1954), part of a debate on tyranny with Leo *Strauss, the political theorist. From shortly after the end of World War ii, Kojève worked in the French Ministry of Economic Affairs and was one of the chief planners for the European Common Market.

[Myriam M. Malinovich]