Françoise Thébaud

Françoise Thébaud (born 1952) is a French historian, professor ''emeritus'' of history, and specialist in the history of women. In 2017, she was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

Early life and education

Françoise Thébaud was born in 1952.

She studied at the École normale supérieure de lettres et sciences humaines, and completed a 3rd cycle thesis entitled (When our grandmothers gave life: motherhood in France in the interwar period). She completed the ''Agrégation d'histoire'' in 1975.

Career and research

Thébaud was a teacher-researcher from 1985 to 1997 at Lumière University Lyon 2 and then, in 1995, presented a university habilitation dissertation in history entitled (Writing the history of women: assessments and perspectives),''Écrire l'histoire des femmes : bilans et perspectives'', Fontenay-aux-Roses : ENS éd., DL 1998. (in French) at Lumière University Lyon 2. She served as professor of contemporary history at Avignon University, from 1997 to 2007, before assuming the title of professor ''emeritus''. Affiliated with (Institute of Gender Studies of the University of Geneva) and Labex EHNE (), some of Thébaud's research has focused on:
* history of feminisms and feminists
* social and political history of motherhood
* writing and epistemology of history: from the history of women to the history of gender

In her book (When Our Grandmothers Gave Life) (1986), Thébaud draws on censuses, demographic and economic statistics, medical theses, obstetrics and childcare manuals, to reconstruct the experience of motherhood. She shows in particular that pronatalist propaganda pushes women to be convinced that childbearing is a national duty, at the same time as an accomplishment of their nature. In her review of the book, the historian Marie-France Morel writes that Thébaud proposes "new issues in the history of women", as well as a questioning of the medical power and the functioning of maternities.Marie-France Morel, compte-rendu sur "Quand nos grands-mères donnaient la vie. La maternité en France dans l'entre-deux-guerres", 1986, in ''Annales de démographie historique'', 1988, Les transitions démographiques
pages 427-431
(in French)

In 1995, she co-founded the history journal, '' Clio. Femmes, genre, histoire'', serving as its co-director from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, she was co-editing it with Michelle Zancarini-Fournel; in 2008, she was co-editing it with . Until 2009, she served as president of the association for the development of the history of women and gender.

Thébaud edited volume 5 of (from the Histoire des femmes collection, Plon-Laterza, 1992; reissue completed in paperback in 2002) and published (ENS Éditions, 1998). She also co-edited (Feminisms and National Identities) (Lyon, Center Jacques Cartier, 1998) and (Editions de l'Atelier, 2004). Her (Paris: Stock, 1986; revised ed. 2014), is considered the classic work regarding the experience of French women during World War I.

Awards and honours

* 2017, Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (in French)

Selected works

Books

Articles

References

Bibliography

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thebaud, Francoise
1952 births
Living people
20th-century French historians
21st-century French historians
Avignon University
Women's studies academics
Women's historians
Knights of the Legion of Honour