original_query: Who is Stéphane Courtois?
query: Who is Stéphane Courtois?
answer: Stéphane Courtois is a French historian and university professor, director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and a professor at the Catholic Institute of Higher Studies (ICES). He is known for his work on communism, particularly his controversial book, *The Black Book of Communism*.  He was formerly a Maoist activist but later became a strong supporter of democracy.