Born on December 20, 1926, in Uzès (Gard). Died on May 28, 2014.
Education and Professional Career
- 1946–1950: Student at the École normale supérieure Lettres (rue d’Ulm)
- 1950–1952: Certified teacher at the Lycée de Toulon, including one year of leave for military service
- 1952–1954: Certified teacher at the Lycée de Marseille (Thiers)
- 1954–1957: Seconded to the CNRS
- 1957–1969: Faculty of Letters, Aix (holding all successive academic ranks)
- 1969: Doctor of Letters (Sorbonne)
- 1969–1972: Professor at the University of Provence, Aix-Marseille I
- 1972–1986: Professor at Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Paris I
- 1986–1997: Professor at the Collège de France, holder of the Chair of Contemporary French History
Awards and Honors
- 1970: Knight of the Order of Academic Palms
- 1989: Knight of the Legion of Honor
- 1994: Officer of the Order of Academic Palms
- 1995: Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters
- 1998: Officer of the Legion of Honor
- 1993: Member of the Academia Europaea
Works on the history of France—political, social, and “cultural”—in the 19th and 20th centuries
- Long-time president of the Society for the History of the 1848 Revolution.
- A specialist in interdisciplinary collaboration, he served for many years as vice president of the Society for Romantic Studies, the French Ethnology Society, and the Society for Jaurès Studies.
Various Activities
- 1974, 1982: Extended stays abroad: Princeton University (USA)
- 1967–1970, 1974–1976: Member of the admissions exam committees at the Rue d’Ulm
- 1978–1986: Publishing activities: series editor at Aubier-Montaigne
- 1999–2006: Official assignment: Member of the High Committee for National Celebrations