Maximilien Sorre
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Maximilien Sorre (16 July 1880 – 10 August 1962), known as Max Sorre, was a French geographer whose work was mainly in the areas of biological and human geography.


Life

Maximilien Sorre, who signed his works "Max Sorre", was born in
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
, Brittany, on 16 July 1880. He studied at the École Normale de Rennes. From 1899 to 1901 he studied at the École normale de Saint Cloud, which trained teachers for the departmental ''écoles normales''. On 6 August 1901 he was awarded a certificate to teach as a professor at the Écoles Normales and the Écoles primaires supérieures. In 1902 he was appointed professor at the École Normale de
La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vendée Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is '' ...
. Sorre was appointed to
Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...
and then to
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
in 1903. He had already accepted the geographic views of
Paul Vidal de La Blache Paul Vidal de La Blache (, Pézenas, Hérault, 22 January 1845 – Tamaris-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of modern French geography and also the founder of the Fr ...
and
Emmanuel de Martonne Emmanuel de Martonne (, 1 April 1873 – 24 July 1955) was a French people, French geographer. He participated in the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference. Early life and education Martonne was born on 1 April 1873 in Chabris, Ind ...
. At the
University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...
he was taught by
Charles Flahault Charles Henri Marie Flahault (3 October 18523 February 1935) was a French botanist, among the early pioneers of phytogeography, phytosociology, and forest ecology. The word '' relevé'' for a plant community sample is his invention. Early life an ...
, professor of botany. This course let him enroll in a doctorate under the direction of
Paul Vidal de La Blache Paul Vidal de La Blache (, Pézenas, Hérault, 22 January 1845 – Tamaris-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of modern French geography and also the founder of the Fr ...
on a theme of biological geography in the eastern Pyrenees, a pioneering work he presented in 1913. His complementary thesis was entitled: "A critical study of the sources of the history of viticulture and the trade of wines and spirits in Lower Languedoc in the eighteenth century". During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914–18) Sorre was mobilized as an officer in 1914, and was seriously wounded in
Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...
in the autumn of 1915. While convalescing he established a closer relationship with Vidal, whose son had been lost in the war. After the war he was accepted in turn by the universities of Bordeaux, Strasbourg and then Lille in 1922. After the death of
Antoine Vacher Antoine Vacher (18 November 1873 – 16 September 1920) was a French geographer, mainly interested in physical geography, and particularly in hydrography. Early years (1873–1905) Antoine Vacher was the brilliant son of a family of tailors from ...
in 1920 the teaching of geography at the
University of Lille The University of Lille (, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the merger of three universities ...
had been disorganized for two years. Sorre stayed at Lille for a long period, and in 1925 accepted the chair of Regional Geography there. In 1929 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Lille, holding that position for eleven years. He also held the posts of Rector of the Académie de Clermont (1931–34) and Rector of the Academy of Aix-Marseille (1934–37). Sorre had left-wing views, and under the Popular Front he was named director of primary education by
Jean Zay Jean Élie Paul Zay (6 August 1904 – 20 June 1944) was a French politician. He served as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts from 1936 until 1939. He was imprisoned by the Vichy government from August 1940 until he was murdered in 19 ...
. He was director of Primary and Post-school Education from 2 June 1937. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–45) 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 ...
dismissed him from this position due to his political views, and he was returned to the Lille Faculty of Letters by a decree of 29 July 1940. In October 1940 Sorre was given the chair of Human Geography at the Sorbonne, where he ended his teaching career. At the end of his life Maximilien Sorre was President of 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 ...
in the rue d'Ulm, Paris. He died on 10 August 1962. The
Lycée Maximilien Sorre Lycée Maximilien Sorre (LMS) is a sixth-form college/senior high school in Cachan, Val de Marne, France, in the Paris metropolitan area The Paris metropolitan area () is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to an ...
in
Cachan Cachan () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The prestigious École Spéciale des Travaux Publics is located there. Name During the Middle Ages, Cachan was referred to in Medieval ...
, Val-de-Marne, is named after him.


Views

During the first half of the 20th century Maximilien Sorre developed the concepts that Paul Vidal de La Blache had laid out in his ''Principes de géographie humaine'', adding concepts from the biological sciences and exploring the relations of man with his environment.
Albert Demangeon Albert Demangeon (13 June 1872 – 25 July 1940) was a Professor of social geography at the Sorbonne in Paris for many years. He was an educator, a prolific author, and in the 1930s was the leading French academic in the field of human geography. ...
had paved the way for more systematic conceptualizations of
Social geography Social geography is the branch of human geography that is interested in the relationships between society and space, and is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenome ...
with his posthumously published argument that social groups ought to be within the center of human geographical analysis. That task was carried out by
Pierre George Pierre George (11 October 1909 – 11 September 2006) was a French geographer. George was a member of the French Communist Party and his Marxist beliefs informed his work on economic geography Economic geography is the subfield of human g ...
and Maximilien Sorre, among others. Sorre was interested in the biological conditions of habitability of regions of the world, and the process of transfer of populations and cultures by international migrations. He was interested in the effect of epidemics and of changing environmental conditions. With this orientation he disregarded the dominant trends of post-war French geography.


Appointments

* Assistant Secretary-General of the Société languedocienne de géographie (1906–1914) * Assistant Secretary-General of the Société de géographie de Lille (1923–1929) * Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Lille (1929–1931) * Vice-president (1947–1953) then President (1953–1961) of the Comité national français de géographie (CNFG) * Vice-president (1952–1960) of the
International Geographical Union The International Geographical Union (IGU; , UGI) is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the establishment of the permanent organization i ...
* Vice-president of the Association de géographes français (AGF) * Member of the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS) * Animator of the Société de biogéographie (
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...
) * Director of the ''
Annales de Géographie 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 ...
'' * President (1952–1956) of both the Commission de géographie humaine and the Commission de biogéographie du CNFG. * Director of the Centre d’études sociologiques (CNRS) (1951–56.


Publications

Selected publications: * * * * * * ** ** ** ** * * *


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorre, Maximilien 1880 births 1962 deaths French geographers 20th-century French geographers Academic staff of the University of Bordeaux