Catriona Jane Seth, FBA (born 30 August 1964) is a British scholar of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

and the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...

. Since 2015, she has been Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...

Early life and education

Seth was born on 30 August 1964 in

Worsthorne Worsthorne is a rural village on the eastern outskirts of Burnley in Lancashire, England. It is in the civil parish of Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood and the borough of Burnley. At the 2011 census the village had a population of 1,028. The vil ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England.'SETH, Prof. Catriona Jane', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 30 Aug 2017
/ref> She holds Irish and

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

. She was brought up in England, Scotland, Switzerland, Belgium, and South America. She was educated at Colegio Francia in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

, Venezuela, at Lycée Sainte-Croix in

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () ...

, Switzerland, and at Lycée français de Belgique in Belgium. Seth studied law and modern languages (French and Spanish) at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(BA) degree in 1986: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Oxon) in 2001. She then studied at

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

, completing a Maîtrise degree in 1987, a ''

Diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

'' (DEA) in 1988, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in 1995. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was on

Évariste de Parny Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (6 February 17535 December 1814) was a French poet. Biography De Parny was born in Saint-Paul on the Isle of Bourbon (now Réunion); he came from an aristocratic family from the region of Berry, w ...

, the 18th century French poet, and was supervised by Sylvain Menant.

Academic career

Seth spent most of her academic career teaching in France. She completed the ''

Agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''profe ...

'' in 1995, and the Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) in 2004. From 1995 to 2000, she was a Professeur agrégé at the Académie de Rouen. From 2000 to 2006, she was a

tenured Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

18th-century French literature 18th-century French literature is French literature written between 1715, the year of the death of King Louis XIV of France, and 1798, the year of the coup d'État of Bonaparte which brought the Consulate to power, concluded the French Revoluti ...

at the

University of Rouen The University of Rouen Normandy (''Université de Rouen Normandie'') is a French university, in the Academy of Rouen. History and demographics Located not in Rouen, but in the suburb of Mont-Saint-Aignan (a "township" in the Normandy region), th ...

. From 2006, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of 18th-century French literature at Nancy 2 University. When Nancy 2 University was merged with other universities to become the University of Lorraine, she continued her teaching at the new institution. Between 2013 and 2014, she was also a World Leading Researcher at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. She has been a visiting professor at Indiana University (Bloomington, USA), at the Université de Gafsa (Tunisia) and at the University of Augsburg (Germany);. On 1 October 2015, she was appointed Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. At the same time, she was elected a University Academic Fellow of

Honours

In October 2012, Seth gave the fifth annual ''Burgerhartlezing'' (Burgerhart Lecture) under the title ''Nobody's Children? Foundlings, Identity and Individual Rights in the Enlightenment''. In March 2014, she gave the John Rule Memorial Lecture at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. In July 2017, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She was appointed an associate member of the

Académie Royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

in June 2018. In July 2018, Seth was awarded an honorary doctorate "for services to education" by

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. In 2019, Seth was elected a Fellow of the Academia Europaea.

Selected works

* * * * Catriona Seth (2006). ''Marie-Antoinette: Anthologie et dictionnaire'' (in French). Paris: Laffont. * Catriona Seth (2008). ''Les Rois aussi en mouraient. Les Lumières en lutte contre la petite vérole'' (in French). Paris: Desjonquères. * * * Catriona Seth ed. (2011). Laclos, ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (in French). Paris: Gallimard, Bibl. de la Pléiade. * * Catriona Seth (2014). ''Évariste Parny (1753-1814): Créole, révolutionnaire, académicien'' (in French). Paris: Hermann. * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Cationa 1964 births Living people Writers from Lancashire Scholars of French literature British literary historians British literary critics British women literary critics Intellectual historians Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Marshal Foch Professors of French Literature Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Paris-Sorbonne University alumni Academic staff of the University of Lorraine Academic staff of Nancy-Université British women academics Women literary historians British women historians