He earned degrees in law and philosophy at the University of Paris. He became a high-school teacher; his fellow faculty members included Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Later, he was a sociology professor in Brazil.
Philosopher and anthropologist.
On the eve of WWII, he was drafted into the French army, as a liaison with the British army.
He grew up in France. His father was a portrait painter; his grandfather was a rabbi.