Jean-Claude Yon, born Paris, 22 February 1966 is a French academic and historian. He has specialised in the world of 19th century theatre and opera, notably the work of

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

and Offenbach. He is professor at the

Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (, ''UVSQ'') is a French public university created in 1991, located in the Departments of France, department of Yvelines and, since 2002, in Hauts-de-Seine. It is a constituent university of the f ...

Career

Yon entered the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in 1987, obtaining a master's degree in contemporary history with his study ''Les notaires parisiens sous le

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

'' (Parisian notaries during the Second Empire) which went on to win the Prix Favard de Langlade offered by the Institut international d’histoire du notariat in 1993. His doctoral thesis examined ''

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

, la fortune et la liberté'' (Eugène Scribe, destiny and freedom) and was defended in January 1994 at the université Panthéon-Sorbonne. Along with

Jean-Christophe Keck Jean-Christophe Keck is a French musicologist and conductor, born in Briançon, in 1964. He is particularly noted as a specialist in the works of Jacques Offenbach, and is the director of the complete critical edition in progress, named after both ...

, Robert Pourvoyer, Peter Hawig and Alain Fraison he was involved in the creation of the Offenbach Edition Keck, a new Offenbach critical edition to be published by

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

and

Bote & Bock Bote & Bock is a German publishing house founded in Berlin in 1838 by Eduard Bote and Gustav Bock (1813-1863). The first Gustav Bock was a musically gifted publisher with an eye for opera. Eduard Bote withdrew from the business in 1847, after the ...

. Yon, in his 2000 study, notably advanced understanding of Offenbach's place within the sociological history of his times. Yon took part in the 2004 documentary directed by Gérald Caillat ''The Missing Manuscript'', about the textual history of ''

Les Contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...

''. Président of the scientific committee of the 'Unité de formation et de recherche' (training and research unit) in Social Sciences and Humanities of the Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (November 2006 to June 2010), he was elected in June 2009 to the council of UFR, then in October 2010 to the council of the Institut d’études culturelles (IEC) then the council of the Institut d’études culturelles et internationales (IECI). Professor of contemporary history at the Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (2012), in 2014 he became the Director of its Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (Centre for cultural history of contemporary society). He was also responsible for projects with the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

from 1992 to 2006 and co-ordinator of twelve exhibition brochures from 1993 to 2000.Jean-Claude Yon - Biographie at the École pratique des hautes études website.
accessed 5 May 2024. As 'Historien spécialiste de l'opéra, écrivain, professeur des universités' Yon was awarded Chevalier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

in the summer of 2021.

Publications

Yon's preference is to work in collaboration with other fields "in a multidisciplinary approach and to work with literature, musicology, language and theatrical studies specialists".Entretien avec Monsieur le Professeur Jean-Claude Yon, 27 avril 2013, magazine ''The French Mag'', https://www.thefrenchmag.com/Entretien-avec-Monsieur-le-Professeur-Jean-Claude-Yon_a709.html He believes that approaches can complement and enrich each other and at the heart of such a collaboration the historian must "opérer la mise en contexte des œuvres" (contextualize the works). In relation to Offenbach or Scribe he believes it preferable to confront them through history, literature, performing arts, musicology and law, in connection, for example, with censorship, or the right to whistle in theatres in the 19th century”. Jean-Claude Yon has organized many symposia and study-days as well as participating in radio broadcasts.Radio France listing for Jean-Claude Yon
accesseed 5 May 2024. He is the author of many articles and books: * ''Offenbach'', exhibition catalogue edited with Laurent Fraison,

Réunion des Musées Nationaux The Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) is a French cultural umbrella organisation, an établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC), formed in 2011, through the merger of the Paris National Museums and the Grand Palais. It ...

, ''Les Dossiers du Musée d’Orsay'', n°58, 1996, 167 p. * ''

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...

, la critique en liberté'', exhibition catalogue co-edited with Stéphane Guégan, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, ''Les Dossiers du Musée d’Orsay'', n°62, 1997, 176 p. * ''

, la fortune et la liberté'', Librairie Nizet, 2000, 390 p. * ''Jacques Offenbach'', Gallimard, « NRF Biographies », 2000, 796 p. * In collaboration with Jacques-Olivier Boudon and Jean-Claude Caron, ''Religion et culture en Europe au XIXe siècle (1800-1914)'', Armand Colin, « U », 2001, 287 p. * ''Le Second Empire, politique, société, culture'', Armand Colin, « U », 2004, 256 p. * ''Histoire culturelle de la France au XIXe siècle'', Armand Colin, « U », 2010, 318 p. * ''Une histoire du théâtre à Paris de la Révolution à la Grande Guerre'', Paris, Aubier, 2012, 437 p. * ''Théâtres parisiens : un patrimoine du XIXe siècle'', photographs by Sabine Hartl and Daniel-Olaf Meyer, Paris, Citadelles et Mazenod, 2013

Awards

* Grand prix d'histoire du romantisme 2000 de la Maison de Chateaubriand, for ''Eugène Scribe, la fortune et la liberté''. * Prix Catenacci de l'Académie des beaux-arts et grand prix 2000 de littérature musicale de l'

Académie Charles-Cros An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, for ''Jacques Offenbach''. * Prix Second Empire 2005 de la

Fondation Napoléon The Fondation Napoléon is a foundation, registered as a French non-profit organization (reconnue d'utilité publique) on November 12, 1987. It's mission is to encourage and support study and interest in the history of the First and Second French E ...

et prix Napoléon III 2005 de la Ville de Boulogne-sur-mer, for ''Le Second Empire. Politique, société, culture''. * Prix Thorlet 2012 of the

Académie des sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

, for ''Une histoire du théâtre à Paris de la Révolution à la Grande Guerre''.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yon, Jean-Claude Academics from Paris 21st-century French historians 1966 births Living people