Marc Ferro (; 24 December 1924 – 21 April 2021) was a French historian. Author of several books, including '' The Use and Abuse of History''.

Life and career

Marc Ferro was born in Paris to a Greek-Italian father and a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

-born

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

mother (née Firdmann (Oudia)), who died in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

in June 1943. Ferro worked on early twentieth-century

European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Eu ...

, specialising in the history of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, as well as the history of cinema. He was Director of Studies in Social Sciences at the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

. He was a co-director of the French review ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' and co-editor of the ''

Journal of Contemporary History The ''Journal of Contemporary History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of history in all parts of the world since 1930. It was established in 1966 by Walter Laqueur and George L. Mosse. Originally published by ...

.'' He also directed and presented television documentaries on the rise of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and the

Russian revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and on the representation of history in cinema. Ferro died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

complications in

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

in April 2021, at the age of 96.

Honours and awards

Honours

* Knight of the

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 ...

* Officier of the National Order of Merit * Officer of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

* Knight of the

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 ...

Awards

* City of Paris History Film Prize (France, 1975) * Prize Clio (France, 1988) * Europe's Historical Prize (1994) * Peace Prize (France, 2007) * Prize Saint-Simon (France, 2011)

Honorary degrees

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

* Bordeaux Montaigne University *

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

Bibliography

*''La Révolution de 1917'', Paris, Aubier Éditions Montaigne, 1967 nglish translation: ''The Russian revolution of February 1917'', translated by J.L. Richards, notes and bibliography translated by Nicole Stone, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972*''La Révolution de 1917 T.2: Octobre: Naissance D'une société'', Paris, Aubier Éditions Montaigne, 1967 (reprinted in 1976, then in 1997 at

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

) nglish translation: ''October 1917: a social history of the Russian revolution '', translated by Norman Stone, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980*''La Grande Guerre, 1914-1918'', Paris, Gallimard, 1968 (reprinted 1987) nglish translation: ''The Great War, 1914-1918'', 1972*''Cinéma et Histoire'', Paris, Denoël, 1976 (réédité chez Gallimard en 1993) nglish translation: ''Cinema and history'', translated by Naomi Greene, 1988*''L'Occident devant la révolution soviétique'', Brussels, Complexe, 1980 *''Suez'', Brussels, Complexe, 1981 *''Comment on raconte l'histoire aux enfants à travers le monde'', Paris, Payot, 1981 The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught''] *''L'Histoire sous surveillance : science et conscience de l'histoire'', Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1985 (reedited in 1987 by Gallimard) *''Pétain'', Paris,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, 1987 (reedited in 1993 et 1994) *''Les Origines de la Perestroïka'', Paris, Ramsay, 1990 *''Nicolas II'', Payot, Paris, 1991 *''Questions sur la Deuxième Guerre mondiale'', Paris,

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, 90 kilometres southwest of the centre of Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Don ...

, 1993 *''Histoire des colonisations'', des conquêtes aux indépendances (XIIIe-XXe siècle), Paris, Le Seuil, 1994 *''L'internationale'', Paris, Editions Noêsis, 1996 *''Que transmettre à nos enfants'' (with Philippe Jammet), Paris, Le Seuil, 2000 *''Les Tabous de l'histoire'', Paris, Nil, 2002 *''Le Livre noir du colonialisme'' (director), Paris, Robert Laffont, 2003.paperback 2010 () *''Histoire de France, France Loisirs'', 2002 () *''Le choc de l'Islam'', Paris, Odile Jacob, 2003 *''Le Cinéma, une vision de l'histoire'', Paris, Le Chêne, 2003 *''Les Tabous de L'Histoire'', Pocket vol. 11949, NiL Éditions, Paris, 2004 *''Les individus face aux crises du XXe siècle : L'Histoire anonyme'', Paris, Odile Jacob, 2005 *''Le ressentiment dans l' histoire''. Odile Jacob, 2007. English (2010): ''Resentment in History'', (paperback) *''Ils étaient sept hommes en guerre : Histoire parallèle'', Robert Laffont, Paris, 2007. * ''Autobiographie intellectuelle'', Paris, Perrin, 2011 * ''La Vérité sur la tragédie des Romanov'', Paris, Taillandier, 2012. * ''Les Russes, l'esprit d'un peuple'', Paris, Taillandier, 2017. * ''L'Entrée dans la vie'', Paris, Tallandier, 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferro, Marc 1924 births 2021 deaths Historians of France 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers Theoretical historians French film historians French male writers French people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Historians of Europe Historians of Vichy France French historians of World War II Academic staff of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Writers from Paris Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France