Gilbert Trausch (20 September 1931 – 3 June 2018) was a Luxembourgish

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 ...

.. He and other colleagues of the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

generation of Luxembourg historians, such as Paul Margue, brought a new concern for Luxembourg's international relations to their study of its history..

Biography

Trausch came from a Catholic middle-class family background. His father was an engineer in the steel firm Hadir. Gilbert Trausch attended the Lycée de garçons Luxembourg, where he was influenced by

Tony Bourg Tony Bourg (born 13 February 1912 in Weicherdange, and died 18 June 1991 in Luxembourg City; ) was a Luxembourgish professor, author, linguist, and literary scholar and critic. Biography Tony Bourg attended primary school in Weicherdange, then we ...

, and finished school in 1950. Following this, he studied history at the Sorbonne and at Exeter. In 1956, he then taught French and History at the Lycée de garçons, the same secondary school as Margue, and later received the title of ''professeur ''in 1959. In 1963, he became a ''Membre correspondant'' and in 1964 a ''Membre effectif'' of the Historical Section of the

Grand Ducal Institute Grand Ducal Institute () is the national academy of Luxembourg. It is based in Luxembourg City, in the south of the country. The Institute incorporates six subsections, each dedicated to a separate field of academic research: * History (''Sectio ...

. From 1968 to 1995 he was a professor at the Centre universitaire du Luxembourg, and was its director from 1984 to 1990. From 1972 to 1984 he was also the director of the National Library. He was also a professor at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

. In 1982 he became the Luxembourgish representative at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

's Liaison group of professors of contemporary history. He also taught at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

in Bruges. His speciality is modern and contemporary history of Luxembourg, and the functioning of the state, politics and society of Luxembourg. Gilbert Trausch played a prominent role in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Luxembourgish independence in 1989, as the head of the commission organising the celebrations. At the official celebration on 18 April 1989, he was the only one to speak alongside

Jacques Santer Jacques Santer (born 18 May 1937) is a Luxembourg politician who served as the 9th President of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. He served as Finance Minister of Luxembourg from 1979 until 1989, and the 20th Prime Minister of Luxembo ...

and

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra (; ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as Prime Mini ...

. In 1990 he became the director of the Centre de Recherches européennes Robert Schuman''.'' In 2005 Trausch campaigned for a Yes vote in the Luxembourgish referendum on the European Constitution. Later, he was associated with the Centre Universitaire du Luxembourg and the

National Library of Luxembourg The National Library of Luxembourg (french: Bibliothèque nationale du Luxembourg), abbreviated as BnL, is Luxembourg's national library. It was founded in its current form in 1899, as a result of a series of different institutions originating in ...

, and was a professor at the

Partial publication list

Monographs

*Trausch, Gilbert.'' Le Luxembourg à l'époque contemporaine, du partage de 1839 à nos jours''. Luxembourg: Editions Bourg-Bourger, 1975. *Trausch, Gilbert. ''Le Luxembourg sous l'Ancien Régime''. Luxembourg: Bourg-Bourger, 1977. * Trausch, Gilbert. ''Joseph Bech, un homme dans son siècle: cinquante années d'histoire luxembourgeoise (1914-1964)''. Luxembourg, 1978. *Trausch, Gilbert. ''Histoire du Luxembourg''. Paris: Hatier, 1992. *Trausch, Gilbert. ''Histoire du Luxembourg: le destin européen d'un petit pays''. Toulouse: Privat, 2003.

Articles

* Trausch, Gilbert. "Du nouveau sur le ‘Kleppelkrich’: Les soulèvements paysans de 1798 dans la région de Neufchâteau et leurs répercussions dans le Département des Forêts." In: Publications de la Section historique de l'Institut grand-ducal de Luxembourg, 63-135. LXXIX. Luxembourg, 1962. * Trausch, Gilbert. 1974. "Contributions à l'histoire sociale de la question du Luxembourg. 1914-1922." ''Hémecht'' (1): 5-118.

Contributions to edited works

* Trausch, Gilbert. "La place de la Section historique de l'Institut grand-ducal dans la formation du Luxembourg." In: Publications de la Section Historique de l'Institut Grand-Ducal de Luxembourg (CXII). * Trausch, Gilbert. "La stratégie du faible: le Luxembourg pendant la Première Guerre mondiale (1914-1919)." In: ''Le rôle de la place des petits pays en Europe au XXe siècle'', Baden-Baden, 2005.

As editor

* Tamse, Coenraad, and Gilbert Trausch, eds. ''Die Beziehungen zwischen den Niederlanden und Luxemburg im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert''. Zoetermeer, 1991. * Trausch, Gilbert, ed. ''La Ville de Luxembourg. Du château des comtes à la métropole européenne''. Anvers: Fonds Mercator, 1994. * Trausch, Gilbert, ed. ''CSV Spiegelbild eines Landes und seiner Politik? Geschichte der Christlich-Sozialen Volkspartei Luxemburgs im 20. Jahrhundert''. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Saint-Paul, 2008.