Louis Chevalier (29 May 1911,

L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer (, literally ''L'Aiguillon on Sea'') is a former commune in the Vendée department in western France. It was merged with La Faute-sur-Mer to form L'Aiguillon-la-Presqu'île on 1 January 2022. Population Geography The riv ...

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.French culture The culture of France has been shaped by Geography of France, geography, by History of France, historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Early life and education

Louis Chevalier was born in

in the coastal department of

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.lycée Henri IV In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

, where he was a pupil of the famous teacher of philosophy known as Alain and also of the historian

Charles-Hippolyte Pouthas Charles-Hippolyte Pouthas (19 July 1886 – 2 May 1974) was a French historian specialist of Political history, political and History of religions, religious history of contemporary France. Pouthas was honorary headmaster of the lycée Malherbe ...

. Chevalier entered the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in 1932, where a fellow student and close friend was the future

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

. He passed his

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 1938 and entered an academic career. During World War II, he served as a tutor at the ENS and taught his history first course at the Ecole libre des sciences politiques in Paris. In 1946 the latter school became the elite

Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

(more frequently known as "Sciences Po") and Chevalier was appointed to a professorship. Six years later he was elected to a chair in Parisian history at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

. Among his students at Sciences Po was the future French prime minister Edouard Balladur.

Career

Chevalier's most important works are ''Classes Laborieuses et Classes Dangereuses à Paris au XIX Siècle'', published in 1958, a survey of the Parisian working class that challenged many assumptions of political historians about their work regimes and political activities and ''L'Assassinat de Paris'', published in 1977. Chevalier was awarded France's highest honor, the ''

Legion d'honneur 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

'', in 1958; his initial decoration as a knight was upgraded to ''officier'' in 1967, and ultimately ''commandeur'' in 1977. In 1987, he was awarded the Grand Prix of the

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Works

* ''Le problème démographique nord-africain'', PUF, 1947 * ''La Formation de la population parisienne au XIXè siècle'', PUF, collection Travaux et documents / Institut national d'études démographique, 1949, 312 p. * ''Démographie générale'', éd. Dalloz, 1951, 599 p. * ''Leçon inaugurale faite le 28 avril 1952'',

, Chaire d'histoire et structure sociales de Paris et de la région parisienne, Paris, Collège de France, 1952, 38 p. * ''Madagascar, population et ressources'', préface par

Alfred Sauvy Alfred Sauvy (31 October 1898 – 30 October 1990) was a demographer, anthropologist and historian of the French economy. Sauvy coined the term Third World ("Tiers Monde") in reference to countries that were unaligned with either the Western ...

, PUF, collection Institut national d'études démographiques, Travaux et documents, 1952, 212 p., cartes. * ''Classes laborieuses et classes dangereuses'', Plon, collection Civilisations d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, 1958, XXVIII-566 p. Rééd. Paris, Le Livre de poche, collection Pluriel, 1978 (translated in English as ''Laboring Classes and Dangerous Classes: In Paris During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', Howard Fertig, 2000) * ''Les Parisiens'', Hachette, 1967, 395 p. Rééd. Paris, Hachette, Collection Pluriel, 1985 * ''Histoire anachronique des Français'', Plon, 1974 ( Grand prix Gobert de l'

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

), XII-346 p. * ''L'Assassinat de Paris'', Calmann-Lévy, Collection Archives des sciences sociales, 1977, 285 p. Rééd. éditions Ivrea, 1997, présentation par Claude Dubois (translated in English as ''The Assassination of Paris'', University of Chicago Press, 1994) * ''Montmartre du plaisir et du crime'', collection Les Hommes et l'histoire, Robert Laffont, 1980, 452 p.- 0p. de pl., * ''Histoire de la nuit parisienne : 1940-1960'', Fayard, 1982 * ''Les Relais de mer. Un village de la côte vendéenne de la veille de la guerre de 14 aux lendemains de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale'', Fayard, 1983 * ''Les Ruines de Subure : Montmartre, de 1939 aux années 80'', Paris, R. Laffont, 1985, 370 p.- 6p. de pl., * ''Juanito : Andalousie de boue et de sang'', Paris, Stock, collection, Un Livre, une vie, 1990, 434 p. * ''Splendeurs et misères du fait divers'', Paris, Perrin, Collection Pour l’Histoire, 2003, 156 pages

References

External links

Obituary: Louis Chevalier
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Friday 14 September 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chevalier, Louis 1911 births 2001 deaths People from Vendée École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the Collège de France Lycée Henri-IV alumni French demographers Commanders of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French historians