Metin Arditi

Metin Arditi, born 2 February 1945 in Ankara, is a French-speaking Swiss writer of Turkish Sephardi origin.
Biography.
Metin Arditi left Turkey at the age of seven. After spending eleven years in a Swiss boarding school in Lausanne, he studied at the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), where he earned a degree in physics and a postgraduate degree in nuclear engineering. He continued his studies at Stanford Business School, where he got an MBA. He lives in Geneva, where he is very involved in the cultural and artistic life of the city. From 2000 to 2013 he was Chairman of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (O.S.R.). He is a member of the Strategic Council of the EPFL, where over the years he taught physics (Assistant to Prof. Mercier), economics and management (as lecturer) and creative writing (as Visiting Professor). In 1988, he created the Arditi Foundation which awards fifteen annual prizes to graduates of the University of Geneva and the EPFL. The Arditi Foundation has purchased and offered to the University of Geneva a landmark theater, the Cinema Manhattan, now called Auditorium Fondation Arditi. He is the founder of " The Instruments of Peace Foundation ", which offers musical education to children of Palestine and Israel. He is a member of the Foundation Board of the Music Conservatory of Geneva. He chaired the Building Committee of the Martin Bodmer Museum in Cologny. In December 2012, Metin Arditi was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. In June 2014, UNESCO appointed him Special Envoy. In September 2014, he created the Arditi Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue.
Writing.
Author of essays and novels, Metin Arditi is a writer of intimacy. All his books deal with the same themes : the difficulty of parenthood, loneliness and exile.
References.
↑ Sylvie Prioul "Prix Jean Giono Metin Arditi," on http://bibliobs.nouvelobs.com 18 October 2011 (accessed 18 October 2011)