Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 24. Chapters: Rene Guenon, Pied-Noir, Abdelmalek Cherrad, Mouloud Akloul, Ismael Bouzid, Herve Renard, Ladislas Lozano, Cedric Si Mohamed, Idriss Ech-Chergui, Jean Snella, Rafik Bouderbal, Rachid Mekhloufi, Karim Benounes, Francois Bracci, Christian Dalger, Jean-Yves Chay, Sylvain Idangar, Bernard Simondi, Jean-Christian Lang, Mehdi Kacem, Andy Dahmani, Adel Guemari. Excerpt: Rene Guenon (November 15, 1886 - January 7, 1951), also known as Shaykh Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation. In his writings, he proposes either "to expose directly some aspects of Eastern metaphysical doctrines," these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character," or "to adapt these same doctrines for Western readers while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit"; he only endorsed the act of "handing down" these Eastern doctrines, while reiterating their "non-personal character." He wrote and published in French and his works have been translated into more than twenty languages. Rene Guenon was born in Blois, a city in central France approximately 100 miles ( 160 km) from Paris. Guenon, like most Frenchmen of the time, was born into a Roman Catholic family. Little is known of his family, although it appears that his father was an architect. By 1904, Guenon was living as a student in Paris, where his studies focused on mathematics and philosophy. He was known as a brilliant student, notably in mathematics, in spite of his poor health. As a young student in Paris, Guenon observed and became involved with the occultist milieux of the city, some of which were, at that time, under the supervision of Papus. Under the name "Tau Palingenius" Guenon ...