THE MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSAL ACADEMY OF CULTURES Elie WIESEL UNITED STATES French speaking philosopher and writer, born in Rumania in 1928. Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1986. President of the Academy. Nourredine ABA ALGERIA 1921-1996. Writer. The author of poetry, plays and essays. He received the Charles Oulmont Prize from the Fondation de France for his collected works. Member of the Academie des Sciences d'Outre-Mer and the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie. ADONIS LEBANON Poet and essayist, born in 1930. In his work he achieves an osmosis between tradition and modernity, East and West. Per AHLMARK SWEDEN Poet and essayist, born in 1939. Former Deputy-Prime Minister of Sweden, former President of the Swedish Liberal Party, founder of the Swedish Committee against anti-Semitism. Jorge AMADO BRAZIL 1912-2001. Writer, journalist and politician. President of the philanthropic foundation La Casa de Jorge Amado in Bahia Henri ATLAN FRANCE-ISRAEL Biologist, philosopher, born in 1931 in Algeria. Emeritus professor, Paris VI University, and Hebraic University of Jerusalem ; Director of research, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris ; Director of the Research Centre in Human Biology, Hadassah Teaching Hospital, Jerusalem. Author of many books. Jacques ATTALI FRANCE Essayist, economist and writer, born in 1943. Member of the Council of State. Margaret ATWOOD CANADA Internationally renowned poet, critic and novelist. Born in Ottawa in 1939 Serguéï AVERINCEV RUSSIA 1937-2004. Philosopher, theologian and poet. Specialist in Paleo-Christian texts and the culture of the Antiquity . Author of several works on Russian culture and on European philosophers. Member of the Moscow Academy of Sciences. Maurice BEJART FRANCE Choreographer, dancer and ballet director, born in 1927. National Grand Prix for Music (1970). Erasmus Prize for Dance (1974). Director of the Bejart Ballet in Lausanne. Saül BELLOW UNITED STATES 1915-2005. Writer, professor at Princeton University, then at University of Chicago. Nobel prize Laureate in literature (1976). Jo BENKOW NORWAY Photographer, writer and politician, born in 1924. Speaker of the Norvegian Parliament. Former President of the Conservative Party. Professor at Boston University. Luciano BERIO ITALY 1925-2003. Composer, professor at the Julliard School of Music in New York. He was awarded the Siemens Prize (1986) and the Wolf Prize (1990). Natth BHAMARAPRAVATI THAILAND Physician and academic. Researcher in pathology and immunology. Member of the Scientific Council for the programme for vaccination development at the World Health Organisation. Rector of Mahidol University in Bangkok.   Youssef CHAHINE EGYPT Film director. Born in 1926. Made some thirty films, all of which reveal their author's political commitment. Received the Prix du Cinquantenaire at the Cannes Film Festival for his biography of Averroes. Georges CHARPAK FRANCE Physicist, born in 1924. Member of the French Institute. Nobel prize winner in physics (1992). Joseph CIECHANOVER ISRAEL Jurist, born in 1933. Former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Furio COLOMBO ITALY Journalist and writer, born in 1931. Former Professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism. Director of L'Unita. Irwin COTLER CANADA Jurist, born in 1940. Professor at McGill University, Montreal and at Harvard. As an international lawyer, he has served the cause of political prisoners throughout the world. Member of the Canadian Parliament Mireille DELMAS-MARTY FRANCE Jurist, born in 1941. Professor of private law at the University of Paris I. Professor at the College de France. Assia DJEBAR ALGERIA Writer, poet, academic, born in 1936. Yourcenar Prize laureate (1997). Member of the French Academy. Ariel DORFMAN CHILE Essayist, scriptwriter, poet, novelist and journalist, born in 1942. Winner of numerous international prizes including the Sir Laurence Oliver Prize for the most outstanding play of the year with Death and the Maiden. Professor of Latin-American literature and civilisation at Duke University. Roger-Pol DROIT FRANCE Philosopher, author, Columnist at Le Monde, Publications include : 101 Experiments in Everyday Life Philosophy. Umberto ECO ITALY Philosopher, novelist. Born in 1932. His academic work deals with semiotics. He is internationally acclaimed for his novels. Prix Médicis étranger (foreign novel) in 1982. Jean-Claude FASQUELLE FRANCE Publisher, born in 1930. Chairman of the Board of administrators of Grasset & Fasquelle publishers, Director of the monthly Le Magazine littéraire. Federico FELLINI ITALY 1920-1993. Film director. Three times awarded the Oscar for the best film with La Strada in 1954, 8 ½ in 1963 and Le Notti di Cabiria in 1967. La Dolce Vita was awarded the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1960 and Giulietta Degli Spiriti was awarded the Golden Globe in Hollywood in 1964.