René Girard (1923-2015) - French philosopher, creator of the original comprehensive theory of the origin of religion and culture. He was made famous by the book Violence and the Sacred (1972), but it was only in the book The Scapegoat (1982) that Girard's theory appeared in its entirety. Using the example of texts about medieval persecution of Jews, the philosopher introduces the concept of “texts of persecution” - texts compiled by the persecutors themselves, but against their will revealing the truth about the innocence of the victim - and shows that all the mythologies of the world are precisely such texts. Girard's main thesis, which first caused a wave of indignation in the intellectual world and then gained many supporters, is that people learned to decipher these texts only thanks to the Gospel Revelation. According to Girard, the liberating and at the same time destructive effect of this revelation continues today - and this book serves as one of its weapons.

Grigory Dashevsky's translation was awarded the Maurice Waxmacher Prize (2010).