Tribute to Bernard Kanovitch
(1932-2025)

Bernard Kanovitch, medical doctor, specialist in medical ethics and supporter of the Shoah Memorial, died on March 26, 2025.

Bernard Kanovitch was born on 14 May 1932 in Paris. His parents, Aizick and Sarah, who came in the late 1920s from Lithuania, died in deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau with his younger sister, Rosette. He lived hidden during the war under the name of Bernard Moulin with his brother Joseph in Châteauroux and then in Vimoutiers.

Right: Rosette KANOVITCH, born on December 6, 1941, lives with her family at 32 rue Bichat in Paris in the 10th arrondissement. His father Aïzik, caught in the roundup of 20 August 1941, was deported on 5 June 1942. On September 2, 1943, Rosette was deported by convoy no. 59 with her mother Sarah-Maïta. Her two brothers, Bernard and Joseph, escaped the roundups. They became activists of Jewish community life and Dr. Bernard Kanovitch was president of the association of Hidden Children.

Bernard Kanovitch is a doctor of medicine, honorary professor specializing in the field of medical ethics and former head of rheumatology at the Rothschild Foundation.
He has played a major role in the field of biomedical ethics through the National Advisory Committee on Ethics and the National AIDS Council. He founded the Benjamin-Edmond de Rothschild Chair, whose work has enabled doctors, philosophers, political leaders and religious leaders from all walks of life to work together on bioethics.
He also held important responsibilities within the French Jewish community and the academic world.

Bernard Kanovitch is a ward of the nation, a commander in the National Order of Merit and an officer in the Order of the Legion of Honor.
He notably published Itinéraire d'un Juif Français (Bourin Éditeur, 2009).

The Shoah Memorial extends its most sincere condolences to his daughter Lisa, a loyal supporter of the Shoah Memorial, to her family and loved ones.