antoine berman was born in the small town of argenton-sur-creuse, near limoges, to a polish-jewish father and a french-yugoslav mother. after living in hiding during the second world war, the family settled near paris. berman attended the lycée montmorency. later he studied philosophy at the university of paris, where he met his wife isabelle. in 1968 they moved to argentina, where they remained 5 years. back in paris he directed a research program and taught several seminars at the collège international de philosophie (international college of philosophy) in paris, and published his major theoretical work, l'epreuve de l'étranger (the experience of the foreign) in 1984. he died in 1991, at age 49, writing his last book in bed.