Charles Seignobos (10 September 1854 – 24 April 1942) was a French scholar of

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

and a

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 species; as well as the ...

who specialized in the history of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

, and was a member of the Human Rights League.

Personal life and education

Seignobos was born to a Republican Protestant family in 1854 at Lamastre in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.baccalaureat in 1871 at Tournon, where he studied with the French

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

poet and critic

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

. After a stellar academic career at the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

where he took courses with

Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges (; 18 March 1830 – 12 September 1889) was a French historian. Biography Coulanges was born in Paris; he was of Breton descent. After studying at the École Normale Supérieure, he attended the French School at ...

and

Ernest Lavisse Ernest Lavisse (; 17 December 184218 August 1922) was a French historian. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Lavisse is also known for being one of the main creator of the ''roman national'' ("National myth", lit. "nat ...

, he completed a degree in history. Afterwards, he moved to Germany where he studied for two years, spending most of his time in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Named to a tenured position as Maître de conférences at the

University of Burgundy The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...

in 1879 and a professor at the Écoles des hautes études internationales et politiques (HEI-HEP), he defended his doctoral thesis in 1881, and then was named to a position at the Sorbonne. He is regarded, along with his friend the physiologist

Louis Lapicque Louis Édouard Lapicque (1 August 1866 – 6 December 1952) was a French neuroscientist, socialist activist, antiboulangist, dreyfusard and freemason who was very influential in the early 20th century. One of his main contributions was to propos ...

, as one of the two founders of the scientific and humanistic community "Sorbonne-Plage" at L'Arcouest in Ploubazlanec, near

Paimpol Paimpol (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwest France. It is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months when people are attracted by its port and beaches. Geography The town is located in t ...

. (Marie Curie had a house constructed there and moved there in 1912).Hervé Queillé, L'Arcouest. Les héritiers de Sorbonne-Plage 16 août 2013 rchivesur le site du Télégramme (consulté le 7 février 2015). His brother Raymond Seignobos succeeded their father (who had been a mayor for just a few weeks in 1870) as Mayor of Lamastre from 1895 to 1914. Charles Seignobos died in April 1942 after having been placed under house arrest at Ploubazlanec in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

Career

Considered along with

Charles-Victor Langlois Charles-Victor Langlois (; May 26, 1863, in Rouen – June 25, 1929, in Paris) was a French historian, archivist and paleographer, who specialized in the study of the Middle Ages and was a lecturer at the Sorbonne, where he taught paleography, b ...

as one of the leading proponents of the historical method, Seignobos wrote a number of works on political history which implemented the German

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...

, benefiting from his excellent knowledge of linguistic particulars in documentary research in English and German. He is, as a result of his critical reading of manuscripts, regarded as one of the major figures in the history of the historical method. To emphasize the importance of primary sources, Seignobos and Langlois began their book ''"L'Introduction aux études historiques"'' (1898) with their famous maxim, "History is made with documents."

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seignobos, Charles 1854 births 1942 deaths People from Ardèche French Calvinist and Reformed Christians French historians Human Rights League (France) members École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of the University of Burgundy Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour