Jean-Jacques Becker is a French historian, (born 14 May 1928 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

). He is a specialist of

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...

. He is the brother of historian

Annie Kriegel Annie Kriegel, née Annie Becker (born 9 September 1926, Paris; died 26 August 1995, Paris) was a French historian, a leading expert on communist studies and the history of Communism, a cofounder (1982) of the academic journal ''Communisme'' (wi ...

and the father of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

specialist Annette Becker.

Biography

Jean-Jacques Becker was born into a family descended from the Jewish community of Alsace-Lorraine, located in Paris. In July 1942, he entered the South zone with his parents who settled in Grenoble (Isère). He continued his studies at the

Lycée Champollion The lycée Champollion or "Champo" is a French secondary school and higher education establishment in Grenoble, at 1 Cours Lafontaine, one block from the Place Victor Hugo. Its present director is M. Neves. It was M. Mattone before him. The seco ...

. Following the popularity of his family to communism, he became a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

from 1947 to 1960. Because of his membership in the Communist Party, he did not participate in the war in Algeria. Having left the Communist Party, he continued to engage in trade unions as a member of the National Union of Secondary Education (SNES), of which he was secretary of the section of the school of Auxerre, then that of Arago school. He was actively involved in the strikes of May–June 1968. After teaching in secondary education (Peronne, Auxerre, Arago - Paris-) until 1968, he was a lecturer at the University of Paris-X Nanterre until 1977, a university professor in Clermont-Ferrand 1977 to 1985 (and Dean of the

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

from 1982 to 1985) and Paris-X Nanterre from 1985 to 1994 (and vice-president of the University from 1986 to 1989). He chaired the jury of the aggregation of History in 1990, 1991 and 1992. He argued in 1976 his doctoral thesis on "French public opinion and the beginning of the War of 1914" prepared under the direction of

Pierre Renouvin Pierre Renouvin (January 9, 1893 – December 7, 1974) was a French historian of international relations. He was born in Paris and attended Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he was awarded his aggrégation in 1912. Renouvin spent 1912-1914 traveling in ...

. He dedicated his work to two major historical areas,

and the political history of France in the 20th century, particularly the labor movement and communism. He is also

Honorary President A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of the International Research Center of the

Museum of the Great War The Museum of the Great War (french: Historial de la Grande Guerre) located near the heart of the World War I Somme battlefields, is housed within the Château de Péronne, a castle in the town of Péronne, France. Péronne was under German occupa ...

in Peronne, and winner of JF Mege Academy of Science, Literature and Arts Clermont-Ferrand.
Award Mege He succeeded

Léo Hamon Léo Hamon, (12 January 1908 – 27 October 1993, Paris) was a French politician. He was a member of the Popular Republican Movement and the Union for the Defence of the Republic. He was also a member of the fourth district of Essonne, senator of ...

as vice-president of the Society for the Study jaurésiennes.

Publications

On War

* Dictionary of the Great War, Brussels, André Versaille editor, 2008 * Year 14, Paris, Armand Colin, 2005 * Encyclopedia of the Great War, co-directed with Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Paris, Bayard, 2004 * The First World War, Belin, Paris,

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Em ...

2003, () * The Great War, Paris, PUF, 2004 * The Treaty of Versailles, Paris, PUF, 2002 * Clemenceau Thirty Questions, Paris, Editions Gesture, 2001 * Clemenceau, the Intractable, Paris, Liana Levi, 1998 * The Great War in Europe, Paris, Belin sup. Histoire. 1996, reissued as The War moindiale, 2003 * France, the Nation, the War (1850-1920), Paris Sedes, 1995 (in collaboration with Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau) * Cultures and Wars, 1914-1918, Paris, Armand Colin, 1994 (with Jay M. Winter, Gerd Krumeich, Annette Becker and Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau) * European Societies and the War of 1914-1918, Paris X-Nanterre, 1990 (co-directed with Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau) * France in War. The Transformation, Brussels, Complexe, 1988 * The French in the Great War, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1980 * 1914, How the French Entered the War, Press the National Foundation for Political Science, Paris, 1977 * The B Book, Governments and Anti-militarism Before the War of 1914, Paris, Klincksieck, 1973 * 1914, the War and the French Labor Movement, with Annie Kriegel, Armand Colin, Paris, 1964

On other topics

* History of the Left in France, co-edited with Gilles Candar, La Découverte, Paris, 2004 * France from 1914 to 1940, Paris, PUF, 2005 * Political History of France Since 1945, 10th edition, Armand Colin, Paris, 2003 * New History of Contemporary France, Volume 19, Alternations and Crises, 1974-1995 (in collaboration with Pascal Ory). Paris, Seuil, Points 1998, edition 1974-2000, 2002 * New History of Contemporary France, Volume 12, Wins and Frustrations, 1914-1929, with Serge Berstein, Paris, Seuil, Points, 1990 * History of Anticommunism in France with Serge Berstein, Volume 1 (1917-1940) Orban, Paris, 1987 * The Communist Party does he Take Power? (The Strategy of the Communist Party from 1930 to Today). Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1981

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Jean-Jacques 1928 births Living people 20th-century French historians 20th-century French Jews Jewish socialists Jewish historians Writers from Paris Historians of communism French Communist Party members Contemporary historians Labor historians French male writers Academic staff of Blaise Pascal University