Paris:  Roger Garaudy, a controversial French philosopher has died at the age of 98, BBC reported.

Formerly a prominent communist author, Roger Garaudy converted to Islam in 1982.

He wrote several books which have been controversial due to his anti – Zionist positions and denial of the Holocaust. His most controversial work was Les Mythes fondateurs de la politique israelienne, later translated into English as 'The Founding Myths of Modern Israel'. French courts banned any further publication of his book and on 27 February 1998 fined him 240,000 French francs.

Born to Catholic and atheist parents in Marseille, Garaudy converted at age 14 and became a Protestant.