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Lucien Paul Victor Febvre (, ; 22 July 1878 – 11 September 1956) was a French
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He was the initial editor of the '' Encyclopédie française'' together with Anatole de Monzie.


Biography

Lucien Febvre was born and brought up in Nancy, in northeastern France. His father was a
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
, who introduced Febvre to the study of ancient texts and languages, which significantly influenced Febvre's way of thinking. At the age of twenty, Febvre went to Paris to enrol in the
École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...
. Between 1899 and 1902, he concentrated on studying history and geography. After his graduation from college, Febvre taught at a provincial ''
lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
'', where he worked on his thesis on Philip II of Spain and the
Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Febvre was forced to leave his teaching post to join the army, where he served for four years. Febvre took up a position at the
University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...
in 1919 when the province was returned to France. While there, Febvre became acquainted with
Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France ...
, who shared Febvre's philosophical and political approach, which brought the two men together. The time Febvre spent in Paris played an enormous role in reshaping his outlook on the world. Prevalent approaches to art, philosophy and modern ways of thinking strongly influenced Febvre. He embraced 20th century modernism to the extent that he later claimed to have become "untuned" from the old world and the old ways of thinking. In his approach to history, Febvre contextualized events against the geography, psychology and culture of the times about which he wrote. History as a mere collection of historical facts no longer held any interest for Febvre.


Early work

Febvre's first thesis on Philip the Second and the
Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
, published in 1911, showed the strength of this approach. In this work, Febvre tried to demonstrate the context that shows events in their true light. Febvre reconstructed the life of villagers and town dwellers in a small traditional province in France by contextualizing historical events in terms of the geography and environment of the times. By describing Franche-Comté's rivers, salt mines, vineyards and other surroundings, Febvre created an accurate and true-to-life portrayal of the atmosphere and outlook of the time. With this approach, Febvre was also able to reveal a negative influence that the French Government of the time played in the life of this province. This approach to history is known as ''histoire totale'', or ''histoire tout court.'' Later, Febvre's work would be a paradigm for the " Annales School" and would become a new way of historical thinking. Another influential work of Febvre dealt with
Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. Published in the ''Revue Historique'' in 1929, "Une question mal posée" attempted to study popular religion by trying to observe and quantify human behavior. Through an enormous amount of research, Febvre collected information from various monasteries and chapels to study the influence of new wave philosophy in religion and the clergy's approach to understanding and translating their views to lay people. Through this work, Febvre became very involved in the field of ethnology, a field of study that quantifies human behavior. Some critics consider this work to be heavily influenced by Febvre's own views of the surrounding world. As time went by, Febvre grew increasingly suspicious of
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
. He refused to see people as bound by forces beyond their control. He came to the view that religion and old ways of thinking were impractical, maybe even dangerous, in modern times. "In the general confusion of our time," Febvre wrote, "old ideas refuse to die and still find acceptance with the mass of the population." He became convinced that changing religious views and attitudes is as difficult as trying to influence the outcome of any sort of political or social upheavals. He believed that people needed to be educated in order to avoid the dangers of the old ways of thinking.


Annales

In 1929, Lucien Febvre, along with his colleague and close friend
Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France ...
, established a scholarly journal, '' Annales d'histoire économique et sociale'' (commonly known as the ''Annales''), from which the name of their distinctive style of history was taken. The journal followed Febvre's approach to describing history. Its approach was to educate the world about the dangers of old-world thinking to avoid possible future economic and political disasters. Its purpose was to influence academic circles to "study ... the present so as to reach a profounder understanding of the past." This journal was like no other scholarly publication at that time. The ''Annales'' was met with a very favorable critical reception and was very successful in its early years. It was in such demand that it was able to increase the frequency of its publications in 1932. However, in 1938 the journal appeared to be running its course and the publishers ceased their support.


Later life

In 1933 Febvre was appointed to a chair at the
Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
. He published vigorously throughout the 1930s and early 40s, although World War II interrupted his work (following the
Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
, parts of the country were occupied by Germany). In June 1944, Marc Bloch was executed, and so Febvre became the man who carried the ''Annales'' into the post-war period, most notably by training
Fernand Braudel Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...
and co-founding the ''VI section'' of the
École Pratique des Hautes Etudes École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
, later known as
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate '' grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. Th ...
( EHESS). Febvre died in 1956 in Saint-Amour, France, where the College Lucien Febvre and Avenue Lucien Febvre are named after him. He is also honoured in street names in Besancon and
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
.


Works by Lucien Febvre

* ''A Geographical Introduction to History''. in collaboration with Lionel Bataillon, London 1925 (''La Terre et l'évolution humaine : introduction géographique à l'histoire''. Paris 1922) * ''Martin Luther, A Destiny''. New York 1929. (''Un destin''. Martin Luther, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1928) * ''Une Question Mal Posée'', 1929. * ''The Rhine: Problems of History and Economics'' (''Le Rhin: Problèmes d'histoire et d'économie'', Paris 1935) Co-authored with Albert Demangeon * ''The Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century: The Religion of Rabelais''. trans. Beatrice Gottlieb. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass.; London, 1982. (''Le problème de l'incroyance au 16e siècle : la religion de Rabelais''. Albin Michel: Paris, 1942) * ''The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800'', co-written with
Henri-Jean Martin Henri-Jean Martin (16 January 1924 – 13 January 2007) was a leading authority on the history of the book in Europe, and an expert on the history of writing and printing. He was a leader in efforts to promote libraries in France, and the history o ...
, London 1976. (''L'apparition du livre'', Paris 1958) * ''A New Kind of History'' (selected essays) (1973).


See also

*
École Pratique des Hautes Études École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
*
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate '' grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. Th ...


References

*''The French Review, Vol. LV, No. 4, March 1982


External links


A short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Febvre, Lucien 1878 births 1956 deaths Writers from Nancy, France Economic historians Collège de France faculty 20th-century French historians École pratique des hautes études faculty École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques French historiographers French military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Philosophers of history Environmental historians University of Burgundy alumni University of Strasbourg faculty