Pierre Nora

Pierre Nora , born the November 17th 1931 with Paris, is a historian French, member of the French Academy, known for its work on the French identity and the memory, the trade of historian, like for his role in the edition in Social sciences. Its name is associated with the Nouvelle history. He is the brother of Simon Nora.

Career

Pierre Nora occupies a particular position, which it describes itself as side , in French the historian medium.

Teaching

It is in the Années 1950 raises in hypokhâgne and khâgne with the Louis-the-Large Lycée, but it is not received, contrary to a tough legend, the National university. It obtains a arts degree thereafter in philosophy. Received with the Aggregation of history in 1958, he is professor with the Lamoricière college of Oran (Algérie) until in 1960; it brings back of it a test published under the title the French of Algeria (1961).

He is boarder of the Fondation Thiers of 1961 with 1963, and assisting, then lecturer with the Institut of political studies of Paris of 1965 with 1977. Since 1977, he is director of studies to the École of the high studies in social sciences.

The edition

In parallel, Pierre Nora carried out an important career in the edition. He enters initially in 1964 at Julliard, where he creates the collection of pocket Archives. In 1965, it joined the Editions Gallimard: the prestigious publisher, installed already well in the market of the Literature, wishes to develop its sector of the Social sciences. It is Nora which will achieve this mission by creating two important collections, the Bibliothèque of the social sciences in 1966 and the Bibliothèque of the stories in 1970, as well as the collection Témoins in 1967.

At Gallimard, Nora publishes in the collections that it in particular directs important work which generally constitutes references impossible to circumvent in their research fields:

In the Library of the social sciences, Raymond Aron ( Stages of the sociological thought , 1967), Georges Dumézil ( Myth and epopee , 1968 - 1973), Marcel Gauchet ( Disenchantment of the world , 1985), Claude Lefort ( Forms of the history , 1978), Henri Mendras ( the Second French revolution , 1988), Michel Foucault ( Words and the Things , 1966; the Archeology of the knowledge , 1969).
In the Library of the stories, François Pipe cleaner ( To think the French revolution , 1978), Emmanuel Roy Ladurie ( Montaillou , 1975, better sale of the collection with 145.000 specimens), Michel de Certeau ( the Writing of the history , 1975), Georges Duby ( the Time of the cathedrals , 1976), Jacques Le Goff ( Saint Louis , 1997), Jean-Pierre Vernant ( the Individual, death, the love , 1989), Maurice Agulhon ( Histoire roves , 1988 - 1996), Michel Foucault ( Histoire of the madness at the traditional age , 1972; To supervise and punish , 1975; History of sexuality , 1976 - 1984).
Of the foreign researchers that it contributes to introduce in France, like Ernst Kantorowicz ( Two Bodies of the king , 1959, published in 1989), Thomas Nipperdey ( Réflexions on the German history , 1983 - 1992, in 1992), Karl Polanyi ( the Great Transformation , 1944, in 1983).

This big role gives to Nora an unquestionable capacity in the French edition , which exposes it to criticism. Thus, he refuses in 1997 to translate the work of Eric Hobsbawm The Age off Extreme (1994), because of attachment with the revolutionary cause of Hobsbawm, which reinterprets the great events of the 20th century around the Communisme and more precisely of the rejection or the fear of the Soviet Union. Nora explains why the context of hostility to Communism in France is not appropriate to this kind of publication, that all the editors “gladly badly liking, are well obliged to take account of the intellectual and ideological economic situation in which their production fits”. It also reports that François Furet, which called with the translation of the book in a long infra-page note of the Passé from an illusion (1995), would have advised to him: Translate it, good blood! It is not the first bad book which you will publish. The work of Hobsbawm having received a great success of regard in the other European countries and to the United States, Hobsbawm and Serge Halimi, in diplomatic Le Monde , will speak about Censure . The book will be finally published in 1999 under the title the Age of the extremes to the editions Complexe, with Brussels, with the collaboration of the diplomatic Monde .

Intellectual life

In May 1980, Nora founds at Gallimard the review the Debate with the philosopher Marcel Gauchet; it quickly becomes one of the major French intellectual reviews. It took part in the Fondation Saint-Simon, created in 1982 by François Furet and Pierre Rosanvallon and dissolved in 1999.

He was opposed to the law of the February 23rd 2005 bearing “recognition of the Nation and national contribution in favor of French repatriated” by cosignant a petition in the daily newspaper Libération entitled “Freedom for the History”. This law, whose subparagraph 2 of article 4 was repealed the February 15th 2006, established that the research programs were to attach more importance to the place of the French presence overseas and that the school programs were to recognize the positive role of it.

Pierre Nora is also very known to have directed the Lieux of Memory , three volumes being given for goal to make an inventory of the places and objects in which incarnated the national memory of the French.

Rewards and distinctions

Pierre Nora received the Prix Diderot-Universalis in 1988, the Prix Louise-Weiss of the National library in 1991, the Prix Gobert of the French Academy in 1993 and the national Grand Prix of the history in 1993.

He was president of the European Librairie of the ideas to the National center of the Book of 1991 with 1997 and member of the Board of directors of the National library of France of 1997 with 2000. He is member of the Scientific advice of the National school of the charters since 1991, of the Board of directors of the Public corporation of Versailles since 1995, and of the High committee of the national celebrations since 1998.

The June 7th 2001, it is elected with the twenty-seventh armchair of the French Academy, where it succeeds Michel Droit. It is received the June 6th 2002 by Rene Rémond. In 2006, he is Commandeur of the Légion of honor, Officier of the National order of the Merit and Commandeur of the Arts and the Letters.

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