Claude-Hélène Perrot (13 September 1928 – 16 July 2019) was a French historian and
Africanist who specialized in the history of Côte d'Ivoire. She served as a professor of contemporary African history at the
University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
from 1983 to 1993. Perrot's main areas of research concerned the history of the
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
*Central Tano languages, a language group w ...
of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana before colonization, mainly the
Anyi and the
Eotile; the use of
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
by historians; as well as relations between
traditional African religions
The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptura ...
and political power.
She was honored as Commander,
Order of Ivory Merit
The Order of Ivory Merit (Ordre du Mérite Ivoirien) is the second highest honorary order of the Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West A ...
.
Early life and education
Claude-Hélène Perrot was born in
Lembach on 13 September 1928 into a
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
family.
She was the sister of François Perrot.
Perrot completed a degree in history and geography at the Sorbonne in 1950,
and after obtaining further training, became a
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
teacher in
Cholet
Cholet (, , probably from Latin language, Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a Communes of France, commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous c ...
and
Coulommiers,
from 1955 to 1961.
Her interests in Africa occurred during a trip to Senegal, after which she enrolled at the
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
, where she studied under
Roger Bastide Roger Bastide ( Nîmes, 1 April 1898 – Maisons-Laffitte, 10 April 1974) was a French sociologist and anthropologist, specialist in sociology and Brazilian literature.
He was raised as a Protestant and studied philosophy in France, developing at ...
and
Georges Balandier
Georges Balandier (21 December 1920 – 5 October 2016) was a French sociologist, anthropologist and ethnologist noted for his research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Balandier was born in Aillevillers-et-Lyaumont. He was a professor at the Sorbonne ( ...
.
She worked in the archives of the
Paris Evangelical Missionary Society
The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (in French, ''Société des missions évangéliques de Paris''), also known as the ''SMEP'' or ''Mission de Paris'', was a Protestant missionary association created in 1822. As with other Christian societie ...
and prepared a thesis on the
Sotho Sotho may refer to:
*Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana
* Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...
king
Moshoeshoe I
Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over som ...
, which she defended at the
Faculté des lettres de Paris
The faculté des lettres de Paris was a French educational institution based at the Sorbonne. It was set up by the imperial decree regarding the University of France on 17 March 1808. It partly succeeded the arts faculty of the former University o ...
, in 1963,
and which was published in 1970 under the title ''Les Sotho et les Missionnaires européens au XIXe siècle'' ("The Sotho and European Missionaries in the 19th century").
Career
Perrot was affiliated with the School of Letters in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...
and
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny
The Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) (formerly known as University of Cocody-Abidjan, fr.: Université de Cocody or Université de Cocody-Abidjan) is an institution of higher education located in the Cocody section of Abidjan and t ...
, until 1971.
During the period of 1971 till 1973, she was with CNRS in Paris. In 1973, she was appointed lecturer at the
University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
. In 1978, she defended a state thesis, entitled ''Les Anyi-Ndenyé et le pouvoir politique aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles '' ("The Anyi-Ndenyé and political power in the 18th and 19th centuries") at
Paris Descartes University
Paris Descartes University (french: Université Paris 5 René Descartes, links=no), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 ...
,
and published under the same title in 1984.
In 1983, she was elected professor at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.
She retired from academia in 1993, while continuing to lead a university seminar and to travel to Côte d'Ivoire for conferences.
She belonged to the Comité de vigilance face aux usages publics de l'histoire.
Perrot died in Paris on 16 July 2019.
Awards
* Commander, Order of Ivory Merit
Selected works
* ''Les Sothos et les missionnaires européens'', ''Annales de l'université d'Abidjan'', série F, tome 2/1, Impr. Darantière, Dijon, 1970, p. 192. (in French)
* ''Les Anyi-Ndényé et le pouvoir aux 18 et 19 siècles'', Publications de la Sorbonne, 1982. (in French)
* « Les Missionnaires français et la construction d'un État. Le Lesotho au temps d'Eugène Casalis », in Daniel C. Bach (dir.), ''La France et l'Afrique du sud. Histoire, mythes et enjeux contemporains'', Karthala, 1990, pp. 111–132 (in French)
* (dir.) ''Lignages et territoire en Afrique aux XVIII & XIX. Stratégies, compétition, intégration'', Khartala, 2000
[ ompte renduPierre Kipré, « Perrot, Claude-Hélène (dir.). — Lignages et territoire en Afrique aux XVIII & XIX. Stratégies, compétition, intégration
Paris, Éditions Karthala (« Hommes et sociétés »), Paris, 2000, 222 p. », Cahiers d'études africaines, n°175, 2004, pp. 705–711 https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/4797] (in French)
* ''Les Éotilé de Côte d'Ivoire aux XVIII & XIX. Pouvoir lignager et religion'', Publications de la Sorbonne, 2008, coll. « Homme et société », p. 272, (in French)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrot, Claude-Helene
1928 births
2019 deaths
20th-century French historians
21st-century French historians
French Africanists
Academic staff of the University of Paris
University of Paris alumni
People from Bas-Rhin