Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov, an internationally influential literary and cultural theorist, has written more than 20 books. He is known for his studies of ethics and history; concerns regarding the definition of freedom and equality in different societies suffuse his writing. Many of his works focus on literature and society, including Fragile Happiness, An Essay on Rousseau (Hachette, 1985), We and the Others, a French reflection on human diversity (Seuil, 1989), Morals of History (Grasset, 1991) and Life Together (Grasset, 1995). Born in Bulgaria, Todorov moved to France in 1963 to complete his graduate studies under Roland Barthes. He is a Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and has been a visiting professor at universities including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Paris with his wife Nancy Huston and their two children. Todorov has been awarded the Bronze Medal of the CNRS, the Charles Lévêque Prize of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques and the first Maugean Prize of the Académie Française; he also is an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.