A suit claiming 10, 000, 000 francs in damages for alleged libeling of the name of the late Leon Blum, twice Prime Minister of France, was heard in civil court here today, After the hearing, the court announced that judgment will be rendered on February 24.
The suit had been brought by the family of the late M. Blum, and by an organization called “The Association of Leon Blum’s Friends,” against the publishers of the Larousse French Encyclopedia.
The damages were sought on the claim that the last edition of the encyclopedia helped to perpetuate an old canard that Blum was not a Frenchman but “a foreign Jew. ” The encyclopedia article on Blum alleges that the former Premier’s “real name” had been Leon Kerunkelstein.
The publishers told the court, in defense, that the article on Blum had been written “by a young and inexperienced graduate, who has since been dismissed, ” The attorneys for the plaintiffs, however, insisted there were “expressions defamatory to Jews in general” in the latest edition of the Larousse encyclopedia.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
