Françoise Thom (born 1951) is a French historian and Sovietologist, honorary lecturer in contemporary history at

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

. A specialist in

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments ...

Russia, she is the author of works of political analysis on the country and its leaders.

Early life and education

Françoise Thom was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, 1951. Her parents are

René Thom René Frédéric Thom (; 2 September 1923 – 25 October 2002) was a French mathematician, who received the Fields Medal in 1958. He made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to aspects of what would be called singularity theory; he became ...

, a mathematician known for his theory of catastrophes and winner of the

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

, and of Suzanne Helmlinger. Françoise has two siblings, Elizabeth and Christian. Thom has a degree in Russian.

Career

She lived for three years in the

Soviet Union 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 ...

, then taught Russian in secondary schools in

Ferney-Voltaire Ferney-Voltaire () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border; it forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva. It is named for Voltaire, ...

and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

. She is a research associate at the Institut français de polémologie. In 1983, she defended a thesis entitled , directed by Alain Besançon at the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences 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 conjo ...

. She was then appointed lecturer in

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

at Paris-Sorbonne University. In 2011, she presented a dissertation entitled , for which was the supervisor, at the Paris-Sorbonne University. She published her thesis in a book entitled, , in 1987. She also published , with Isabelle Stal, in 1985, (1989), and (1994). In 1998, she co-authored, with Jean Foyer,

Jacques Julliard Jacques Julliard (4 March 1933 – 8 September 2023) was a French historian, columnist and essayist, and a union leader. He was the author of numerous books. Life Early years Jacques Julliard was born on 4 March 1933 in Brénod, Ain. His father ...

, and

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. He is also affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, a European trade union. Career Thiollet attended a school in Châtelleraul ...

, the book, ''La Pensée unique - Le vrai procès''. She collected, translated, prefaced and annotated the memoirs and analyses of Sergo Beria, son of

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

, published in 1999 under the title . In 2013, she finally published a biography of Beria, under the title . In 2018, she published ''Comprendre le poutinisme'' (Understanding

Putinism Putinism () is the social, political, and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. There are three stages of Putinism; ''Classical Putinism'' (1999–2008), ''Tandem-Phase'' (2008–2012) and ''Devel ...

), in which she recalls

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's former membership in the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

and studies the "propaganda of Russian power".

Personal life

In April 2005, she married historian Georges Mamoulia.

Selected works

Books

* ''L'École des barbares'', with Isabelle Stal, Paris, Julliard, 1985 * ''La langue de bois'', Paris, Julliard, 1987 * ''Les fins du communisme'', Paris, Critérion, 1994 * ''Le Moment Gorbatchev'', Paris, Hachette, 1989 * ''Beria : Le Janus du Kremlin'', Paris, Cerf, 2013 924 p. * ''Géopolitique de la Russie'', with Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je?", 2016 * ''Comprendre le poutinisme'', Paris/Perpignan, Desclée De Brouwer, 2018, 240 p. * ''La Marche à rebours. Regards sur l’histoire soviétique et russe'', Paris, Sorbonne Université Presses, collection "Mondes contemporains", 2021, 724 p. * ''Poutine ou l'obsession de la puissance'', Litos, 2022, 248 p.

Articles

* "Les Occidentaux devant la fin de l’Union soviétique", ''Commentaire'', no 118, February 2007, pp. 373–382 * "Le parti russe en France", ''Commentaire'', February 2016, pp. 432–436

Editor

* Beria, Sergo, ''Beria, mon père : au cœur du pouvoir stalinien'', Plon/Critérion, 1999, 448 p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thom, Francoise 1951 births Living people People from Strasbourg 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians Historians of Russia Paris-Sorbonne University alumni Historians of communism Academic staff of Paris-Sorbonne University