Edgar Morin: France's intellectual 'grandfather' dies at 104

France's favourite intellectual Edgar Morin, a World War II Resistance member who dedicated his life to promoting critical thinking and combatting intolerance, has died at the age of 104, his wife said Saturday.

Outside of France he was best known as the inventor of "cinema verite" for his 1961 documentary with film-maker Jean Rouch "Chronicle of a Summer" about the lives of ordinary young Parisians. Morin was born Edgar Nahoum on July 8, 1921 in Paris to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Greece. He always resisted being defined by his Jewishness, stressing that he was also "French, Mediterranean and a citizen of the world".