First researcher, then employer representative and finally business manager, this native of Mulhouse was endowed with a rare erudition, the fruit of brilliant studies (HEC, double aggregation, doctorate) and a curiosity that never dried up. Vice-president of the Medef, he worked in particular on the concept of “risk” applied to society. Under his direction, Scor created a publishing group, Humensis (PUF, Belin, Editions de l’Observatoire). In 2016, his intellectual career was hailed by his election to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (ASMP).
His liberalism was both scholarly and concrete. Kessler made himself known to the whole of France by going to the front against the 35 hours. He never ceased to alert the country against soaring public spending and debt. He did not hesitate to castigate the French social model, untouchable because it came from the National Resistance Council. During a speech at the ASMP, he recalled: “For companies to be born and develop, […] people need to […] risk their name, their reputation, accept failure, find themselves bankrupt, ruined… […] They expect gain, profit, fortune, recognition. […] These reflections also concern all those involved in the creation […] Who […] cultivate our sense of Beauty.” May this philosophy of the human condition inspire us in these uncertain times.