Évelyne Pisier (18 October 1941 – 9 February 2017) was a French writer and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Biography

Pisier was born in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

on 18 October 1941. She was the daughter of a French senior civil servant, Georges Pisier (30 June 1910 – 13 March 1986), who was a Maurrassien supporter of the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

and was stationed in

. Pisier was interned for four years in a Japanese concentration camp after the

Japanese invasion of French Indochina The , () was a short undeclared military confrontation between Japan and Vichy France in northern French Indochina. Fighting lasted from 22 to 26 September 1940; the same time as the Battle of South Guangxi in the Sino-Japanese War, which was ...

. She then moved to

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

, where her father was transferred and where her brother Gilles Pisier was born. Her parents subsequently separated, so Évelyne Pisier settled in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Marie-France Pisier Marie-France Pisier (10 May 194424 April 2011) was a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave, and twice earned the national César Award for César Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best ...

. In 1986 her father committed suicide, and then in 1988 her mother also committed suicide at the age of 64. In 1964, as a feminist activist involved with the political left, she traveled with other students, including Marcel-Francis Kahn ( fr), to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

where she started a 4-year relationship with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. She subsequently married

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in t ...

, with whom she had three children. While continuing her activism, Pisier defended her thesis in public law in 1970 at the

University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. Her thesis, entitled ''Le service public dans la théorie de l'État de Léon Duguit'' (The role of public service in

Léon Duguit Léon Duguit (1859–1928) was a leading French scholar of public law (''droit public''). After a stint at Caen from 1882 to 1886, he was appointed to a chair of constitutional law at the University of Bordeaux in 1892, where one of his colleague ...

's theory of the state), was completed under the supervision of Georges Lavau ( fr). Pisier then became one of the first women in the ''

Agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'', and in 1972 she was appointed to the Institut d'études politiques. Pisier subsequently had a second marriage with the French political scientist Olivier Duhamel, with whom she adopted two children; she recounted these experiences in her 2005 book ''Une question d'âge'' (A question of age). In 1989, she was named the director of the French Government's Book and Reading Service ( fr) within the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

, with a term lasting until 1993. In 1994, Pisier became a professor emerita at the

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Pisier died on 9 February 2017 in Sanary-sur-Mer.

Selected awards

*''Chevalier'', French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(1998) *''Commandeur'', French

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisier, Évelyne 1941 births 2017 deaths Writers from Hanoi Knights of the Legion of Honour Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni French political scientists 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers French women historians 21st-century French historians Spouses of politicians French women political scientists Deaths from lung cancer in France