Bruno Gollnisch - Studies and Career

Studies and Career

Bruno Gollnisch studied law, political science and far-eastern languages with the view to becoming a diplomat. He met Jean-Marie Le Pen while studying at Nanterre university. He also became a reserve officer in the French Navy.

In 1971-1973 he was granted degrees in Japanese and Malaysian-Indonesian by the INALCO. In 1973, he was awarded a degree in political sciences at Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). He did a masters (DEA) in public law in 1973. In 1974, he began doctoral studies in Law at Kyoto University (Japan). In 1978, he obtained a doctorate in law in Paris. Since 1980, he has been an attorney at the bar of Paris.

After his return to France, he began a career as juridical advisor, then lawyer. He is a specialist in the law of Eastern Asian countries.

He became associate professor of Law at Metz university. In 1981, he became professor of Japanese language and civilization at the University of Lyon III - a position which he holds to this day. The humanities division of University of Lyon 3, is notorious for the profusion of FN supporters and revisionists among its faculty—most notably, Robert Faurisson. Gollnisch has collaborated with the white nationalist American Renaissance magazine.

Gollnisch, who is part of the Catholic faction within the National Front, along with Bernard Antony, joined the "TSM" faction inside the FN (Tout sauf Mégret, Anybody But Mégret) during the 1990s crisis, along with Samuel Maréchal, Marine Le Pen, Roger Holeindre, Jean-Claude Martinez and Martine Lehideux.

He married a Japanese, Setsuko Takeuchi, in 1981 and they have three children.

Gollnisch was an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the National Front in 2011 when the party's founding leader Jean Marie Le Pen retired. Gollnisch was defeated by Marine Le Pen, Jean Marie's daughter.