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 French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

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 hist ...

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

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) 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 me ...

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 United Kingdom census, 2011 census the village had a popu ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

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

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

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

British citizenship The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and Nor ...

. 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 (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 the northern p ...

, Venezuela, at Lycée Sainte-Croix in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, 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 Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

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

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Oxon) in 2001. She then studied at

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

, completing a Maîtrise degree in 1987, a ''

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

'' (DEA) in 1988, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(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: D ...

was on

Évariste de Parny Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (6 February 17535 December 1814) was a French Rococo 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 ...

, 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 () 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 ...

'' in 1995, and the

Habilitation à diriger des recherches Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

(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 type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

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 Napoléon Bonaparte, Bonaparte which brought the Consulate to power, concluded ...

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), t ...

. From 2006, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of 18th-century French literature at

Nancy 2 University Nancy 2 University (''Université Nancy 2'') was a French university located in Nancy, France. It was a member of the Nancy-Université federation, a group of the three higher education institutions in Nancy.

. When Nancy 2 University was merged with other universities to become the

University of Lorraine The University of Lorraine (), abbreviated as UL, is a public research university based in Lorraine, Grand Est region, France. It was created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine Un ...

, she continued her teaching at the new institution. Between 2013 and 2014, she was also a World Leading Researcher at

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. She has been a visiting professor at Indiana University (Bloomington, USA), at the Université de Gafsa (Tunisia) and at the University of Augsburg (Germany);.. She has been a Guest Researcher at the University of Bergamo (Italy), a Bogliasco Foundation Fellow, a Chawton House Fellow and was Senior Anniversary Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) of the University of Edinburgh in 2023. On 1 October 2015, she was appointed Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages,

. 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 The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

. In July 2017, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters 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 t ...

(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, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

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 ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...

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

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. In 2019, Seth was elected a Fellow of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

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 British women literary historians Members of Academia Europaea