The Grandson Of A Soviet Spy Has Become A Candidate For The French Presidency

He advocates for strengthening European security, supporting Kyiv, and taking a hard line against Russia.

Member of the European Parliament and leader of the center-left party “Public Space” (Place publique) Raphaël Glucksmann has announced his candidacy for the French presidency, according to The Telegraph.

He intends to participate in the primaries and unite the left-wing electorate. Glucksmann is known as a staunch supporter of Ukraine and European integration. He advocates for strengthening European security, supporting Kyiv, and taking a hard line against Russia.

At the same time, the politician holds left-wing views and has proposed introducing mandatory ten-month community service for French youth—for example, assisting in nursing homes.

The Glucksmann family’s history is linked to Soviet intelligence. His grandfather Rubin Glucksmann was born in 1889 into a Jewish family in Chernivtsi, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. In the 1920s, he emigrated to Palestine, where he became involved in communism and was recruited by the Comintern—an organization created by the Bolsheviks to spread the communist movement.

According to the publication, Rubin Glucksmann worked as a Soviet spy in France, Germany, and Great Britain, where he posed as a businessman and insurance agent. In 1940, he was arrested by the British counterintelligence agency MI5 after being exposed by a Soviet defector. It was decided to deport Glucksmann to Canada. On the way, the ship carrying him was torpedoed by a German submarine, and he was killed. At the time, his son André was only three years old, and because of his Jewish heritage, André went into hiding in France under the assumed name Joseph Rivière and survived the war. Later, André Glucksmann became a renowned French philosopher. In his youth, he held Marxist and Maoist views, but in the 1970s he broke with them and became a critic of Soviet communism and Chinese politics.

Raphaël Glucksmann was born in Paris in 1979. Before entering politics, Glucksmann worked as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. From 2009 to 2013, he served as an advisor to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. There, he focused on political strategy and communications. In 2024, Glucksmann headed the list of a center-left alliance in the European Parliament elections in France. The alliance received about 14% of the vote, and Glucksmann became one of the most prominent figures on the French left.

Gluksmann, 46, hopes to become the unified candidate of the moderate left and challenge Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen. “If I’m running for office, it’s only so that France can regain its dignity. Are we really going to hand the country over to Marine Le Pen and the far right? I believe that the majority of French people do not support the Americanization of French society,” the politician stated. Glucksmann’s main political goal is to win the support of the moderate left without forming an alliance with Mélenchon.

The French presidential election will take place in the spring of 2027. According to polls, Marine Le Pen remains the favorite in the first round. In one of The Times’ scenarios, she receives about 36% of the vote, while the center-right former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe receives 19%, Jean-Luc Mélenchon — about 15%, and Glucksmann — approximately 10%. If Le Pen advances to the second round, her opponent will need to secure significant support.

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