Marie Holzman (born 4 January 1952) is a French
sinologist,[1][2] university professor of Chinese, writer, journalist and translator.[3][4] Her research focuses on contemporary China and
Chinese dissidents.
Biography
Holzman was born in
Paris. Between 1972 and 1980, she stayed in Asia in
Taiwan, the
People's Republic of China and
Japan. She was a student in
Beijing when the first
Beijing Spring broke out in 1978. Since then, she has supported the victims of repression in China.[5]
She is the chairwoman of the association Solidarité Chine ("Solidarity China") that was established in 1989 after the
Tiananmen Square protests. She is also a board member of
Human Rights in China (HRIC), a member of the Asia-Democracy Forum and a spokeswoman of the Collectif Pékin J.O. 2008.[6] Her aim is to "echo the voice of those who take on pro-democracy stands, so that the West understands that the Chinese are not all fascinated by business and artwork counterfeiting."[5]
Holzman created the publishing series Les Moutons Noirs (lit. 'The Black Sheep') algonside Jean-François Bouthors and
Galia Ackerman, with the support of
Pierre Bergé.[8]
On 31 December 2008 Holzman was named a Knight of the
Legion of Honour.[9] She was awarded the decoration by Pierre Bergé (who, at the time, was in a conflict with Beijing about the selling of two bronze pieces of the
Old Summer Palace) on 2 June 2009, the day before the 20th anniversary of the Tian'anmen massacre, on behalf of President
Nicolas Sarkozy.[10]
In 2008, Holzman became the spokeswoman of the Collectif Jeux Olympiques 2008. She called for sportspeople and foreign officials to boycott the
2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony as long as the Chinese leaders do not change their mind on the repression and the imprisonment of Tibetan opponents.[11]
^"Paul Jean-Ortiz, l'ombre chinoise de Hollande". Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). "On n'a pas pu les retenir tous en France car on ne pouvait rivaliser avec les universités américaines qui les attendaient les bras ouverts", se rappelle la sinologue et militante Marie Holzman.