He is the son of Serge Klarsfeld. He studied at the Janson-de- Sailly and Claude-Bernard high schools in Paris, then at the universities of Paris II Panthéon-Assas and Sorbonne-Paris IV, and obtained a master's degree in law. At New York University, he obtained a master's degree in international law. He participated in the trial against Klaus Barbie, which had international reso- nance, with over 900 journalists involved in the media coverage of the trial. He came to the public's attention in 1994 in the trial of Paul Touvier, the head of the Chambéry and Lyon Militia - in which Arno Klarsfeld showed perfect knowledge of the 30,000- page file. He was an adviser in the office of PrimeMinister François Fillon, during the years 2007-2010. He was chairman of the Board of Directors of the French Office for Immigration and Integration. He is a lawyer in the association Fils et filles de déportés juifs deFrance (Sons and daughters ofJewish deportees from France). He is currently working to set up international courts to try war criminals in massacres similar to those in Kosovo and the Rwandan genocide. After Nikolas Sarkozy's victory in the 2007 elections, he was the UMP's candidate for the legislative elections in the eighth district of Paris. On November 24th, 2007, he was decorated with the National Order of Merit, in the rank ofknight by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy.