As part of the Rencontres des Amis de Marcel Proust, the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust is pleased to welcome Laurent Vinatier for an interview.
A researcher specialising in the post-Soviet world, and a consultant for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (a Swiss NGO specialising in conflict mediation), Laurent Vinatier was arrested in Moscow by the FSB in June 2024. Held for nearly nineteen months in Russian prisons, he was released on 8 January 2026 as part of a prisoner exchange, pardoned by President Vladimir Putin.
It was during this painful captivity that Laurent Vinatier discovered the work of Marcel Proust — an encounter that was, in his own words, a saving grace. He will come to share this singular experience of reading with the Amis de Marcel Proust, on the occasion of what promises to be a particularly interesting conversation.
Thursday 10 September at 7pm
Hôtel Swann, Paris VIIIe