January 27, 2013

(JTA) — The French government has appointed Jack Lang, a gay rights campaigner whose father is a Jewish Holocaust survivor, to head the Arab World Institute.

Lang, a politician for France’s Socialist Party who served as culture minister for over a decade from 1981, was named on Jan. 25 president of the prestigious cultural institution, which France runs jointly with 22 Arab countries. 

Lang, 73, was born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father who survived World War II in hiding, according to a biographical research performed by French genealogist Alain Garric. He is also mentioned as Jewish in The Jewish Year of 1997. Lang is married to Monique Buczynski, who is also Jewish, according to Garric.

Lang and his daughter, the well-known actress Valeria Lang, have recently spoken out in favor of allowing civil marriage for gay people in France. According to L’express, a Frech daily newspaper, Lang attended gay rights marches in the 1970s.

The institute, dedicated to promoting and exchanging information and cultural values of the Arab world, was founded in 1980 by the French government and 18 Arab countries, many of which regard homosexuality as a crime.

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