Carmen Bernand (born Carmen Muñoz on 19 September 1939) is a French

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

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 race; as well as the stu ...

and Latin Americanist.

Biography

Carmen Bernand was born in France to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

refugee parents, she lived in Argentina for 25 years, where she studied

Ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

. At the end of 1964, she moved to Paris and prepared a postgraduate thesis under the direction of

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthro ...

. In 1966, she married the

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

(1923–2013). Bernand is a specialist in the history of

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, she conducted field surveys of

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

populations in Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. Since the late 1980s, she has devoted herself to the historical anthropology of Latin America. She teaches at the

Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...

and is a member of the

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that distinguishes each year a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

. She is also a Deputy Director of the ('Centre for Research on the American Worlds') since 1999 and member of editorial board of the anthropological and museological journal '' Gradhiva''. With

Serge Gruzinski Serge Gruzinski (born 5 November 1949) is a French historian. He is a Latin America specialist. Career In 1969, he entered the École Nationale des Chartes and prepared a thesis on sixteenth-century Flanders under the direction of Pierre Gou ...

, she published and two volumes of . She is the author of and a heavily illustrated pocket book for “

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an editorial collection of illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in pocket format. The books are concise introductions to pa ...

”, , which has been translated into ten languages, including English. She also wrote in Spanish a crime novel set in

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

Selected publications

* Co-author with

, ''De l’idolâtrie : Une archéologie des sciences religieuses'', collection « Philosophie Générale ». Seuil, 1988 * ''Les Incas : Peuple du Soleil'', collection «

» (nº 37), série Histoire. Éditions Gallimard, 1988 (new edition in 2010) ** US edition – ''The Incas: People of the Sun'', “

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname * '' Abrams v. United States'', 250 U.S. 616 (1919), U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding free speech during times of war * M1 Abrams, main battle tank * Abrams, Wi ...

” series. Harry N. Abrams, 1994 ** UK edition – ''The Incas: Empire of Blood and Gold'', ‘

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

’ series. Thames & Hudson, 1994 * Co-author with Serge Gruzinski, ''Histoire du Nouveau Monde'' (2 volumes), Fayard, 1991 and 1993 * ''Historia de Buenos Aires'', Fondo de Cultura Económica USA, 1999 * ''Un Inca platonicien : Garcilaso de la Vega 1539–1616'', Fayard, 2006 * Co-author with Catherine Escrive, ''

Viracocha Viracocha is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Wiracocha, Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra, and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki, the source of t ...

, le père du Soleil inca'', Éditions Larousse, 2008 * ''Cuzco, le nombril du monde'', Éditions de La Flandonnière, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernand, Carmen 1939 births Living people Incan scholars French anthropologists French women anthropologists 20th-century French historians French essayists French women novelists French women historians Historians of South America French people of Spanish descent 21st-century French historians University of Buenos Aires alumni Academic staff of Paris Nanterre University