The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

based in

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

Gradignan Gradignan (; oc-gsc, Gradinhan) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is located on its southwest side. Thus, it is a member of the Bordeaux Métropole. Population Educatio ...

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

Pessac Pessac (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to B ...

, and

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

. There are also several smaller teaching sites in various other towns in the region, including in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

. The University of Bordeaux counts more than 50,000 students, over 6,000 of which are international. It is a member of the ComUE d'Aquitaine university group.

History

Original formation

In 286, a university had been created by the Romans. At this time, the city was an important administrative centre and the school had to train administrators. Only

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

and

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

were taught (including the study of classical texts).

Modern university

The original ''Université de Bordeaux'' was established by

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

on 7 June 1441 when Bordeaux was an English town. In 1793, during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

abolished the university. The university re-opened in 1896 as a result of the law of 18 July 1896. In 1970, the university was split into three universities: Bordeaux 1, Bordeaux 2, and Bordeaux 3. In 1995, Bordeaux 4 split off from Bordeaux 1. Since 2014, the aforementioned universities have been reunited to form the University of Bordeaux, except for Bordeaux 3, which did not take part in the merger and remains independent of the University of Bordeaux.

Notable alumni

Academia

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

(c. 1569–c. 1644), Irish historian *

Léon Duguit Léon Duguit (1859–1928) was a leading French scholar of public law (''droit public''). After a stint at Caen from 1882 to 1886, he was appointed to a chair of constitutional law at the University of Bordeaux in 1892, where one of his colleagu ...

(1859–1928), French scholar of public law *

Henri Moysset Henri Moysset (26 March 1875 – 1 August 1949) was a French historian and politician. He was a scholar of the history of socialism, especially Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. He was the French Minister of State for the Coordination of New Institutions fr ...

(1875–1949), French historian and politician *

Jacques Ellul Jacques Ellul (; ; January 6, 1912 – May 19, 1994) was a French philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, and professor who was a noted Christian anarchist. Ellul was a longtime Professor of History and the Sociology of Institutions on t ...

(1912–1994), French philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, and professor *

James Joll James Bysse Joll FBA (21 June 1918 – 12 July 1994) was a British historian and university lecturer whose works included ''The Origins of the First World War'' and ''Europe Since 1870''. He also wrote on the history of anarchism and socialis ...

(1918–1994), British historian and university lecturer *

Julio Cotler Julio Cotler (12 April 1932 – 5 April 2019) was a Peruvian anthropologist, sociologist and political scientist. He was director of the Institute of Peruvian Studies and professor at the National University of San Marcos. Biography He studied ...

(1932–2019), Peruvian anthropologist and sociologist *

Théophile Obenga Théophile Obenga (born 1936 in the Republic of the Congo) is professor emeritus in the Africana Studies Center at San Francisco State University. He is a politically active proponent of Pan-Africanism and an Afrocentrist. Obenga is an Egyptolo ...

(b. 1936), Congolese Egyptologist *

Spencer C. Tucker Spencer C. Tucker is a Fulbright scholar, retired university professor, and author of works on military history. He taught history at Texas Christian University for 30 years and held the John Biggs Chair of Military History at the Virginia Milit ...

(b. 1937), American military historian * Charles Butterworth (b. 1938), American political philosopher *

Helene Hagan Helene E. Hagan, born Helene Coll (born in 1939 in Rabat, Morocco), is an American anthropologist and Amazigh activist. Biography Hagan immigrated to the United States in 1960. She is the mother of three children. After obtaining a License- ...

(b. 1939), Moroccan–American anthropologist and Amazigh activist *

Pascal Salin Pascal Salin (born May 16, 1939) is a French economist, professor '' emeritus'' at the Université Paris-Dauphine and a specialist in public finance and monetary economics. He is a former president of the Mont Pelerin Society (1994 to 1996). Bio ...

(b. 1939), French economist and professor *

Marie-France Vignéras Marie-France Vignéras (born 1946) is a French mathematician. She is a Professor Emeritus of the Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu in Paris. She is known for her proof published in 1980 of the existence of isospectral non-isometric Riemann su ...

(b. 1946), French mathematician * Alfredo Co (b. 1949), Filipino Sinologist * Idowu Bantale Omole (b. 1954), Nigerian professor and academic administrator *

Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah (Arabic: عبد الرحمن حاج صالح) was an Algerian linguist (8 July 1928 - 5 March 2017), popularly labelled the "father of linguistics" in Algeria. Life Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah was born in Oran on 8 July 1928 ...

(1928–2017), Algerian linguist * Roger Naslain (b. 1936), professor of chemical and physical science at the University of Bordeaux

Activism

Aubrey Willis Williams Aubrey Willis Williams (August 23, 1890 – March 5, 1965) was an American social and civil rights activist who headed the National Youth Administration during the New Deal. Biography Aubrey Williams was born in Springville, Alabama, on August 2 ...

(1890–1965), American social and civil rights activist *

Jean-Claude Bajeux Jean-Claude Bajeux (17 September 1931 – 5 August 2011) was a Haitian political activist and professor of Caribbean literature. For many years he was director of the Ecumenical Center for Human Rights based in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prin ...

(1931–2011), Haitian political activist and professor * Louis Clayton Jones (1935–2006), African-American international attorney and civil rights leader

Business

* Mireille Gillings (b. 1971), French Canadian neurobiologist and entrepreneur *

Olivier Le Peuch Olivier Le Peuch (born 1963/1964) is a French businessman, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company, effective 1 August 2019. Biography Le Peuch was born and raised in France. He earned ...

(born 1963/1964), French businessman, CEO of Schlumberger

Law

* Thomas Barclay (c. 1570–1632), Scottish jurist and professor *

Ba Maw Ba Maw ( my, ဘမော်, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977) was a Burmese lawyer and political leader, active during the interwar and World War II periods. Dr. Ba Maw is a descendant of the Mon Dynasty. He was the first Burma Premier ...

(1893–1977), Burmese politician *

James Marshall Sprouse James Marshall Sprouse (December 3, 1923 – July 3, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Education and career He was born in Williamson, West Virginia and graduated from Williams ...

(1923–2004), United States Circuit judge

Literature and journalism

François Mauriac François Charles Mauriac (, oc, Francés Carles Mauriac; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the Nobel Priz ...

(1885–1970) French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, journalist and Nobel Laureate *

Saint-John Perse Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet-diplomat, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative ...

(1887–1975), French poet-diplomat *

Lucien Xavier Michel-Andrianarahinjaka Lucien Xavier Michel-Andrianarahinjaka (30 December 1929 – 11 November 1997) was a Malagasy writer, poet, and politician. He was born in Fianarantsoa, and studied at the University of Bordeaux 3 and Paris-Sorbonne University. In 1977, he wa ...

(1929–1997), Malagasy writer, poet and politician *

Annie Ernaux Annie Thérèse Blanche Ernaux (; born 1 September 1940) is a French writer, professor of literature and Nobel laureate. Her literary work, mostly autobiographical, maintains close links with sociology. Ernaux was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize ...

(b. 1940), Nobel Prize-winning(2022) French writer and professor of literature. *

Esther Seligson Esther Seligson (25 October 1941 – 8 February 2010) was a Mexican writer, poet, translator, and historian. She was an academic, with a wide range of interests including art, cultural history, Jewish philosophy, mythology, religion and theater. ...

(1941–2010), Mexican writer, poet, translator, and historian *

Lee Mallory William George "Lee" Mallory (January 10, 1945 – March 21, 2005) was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who was part of bands including The Millennium and Sagittarius. His most successful single was a cover of the Phil Ochs/Bob Gibson son ...

(b. 1946), American poet, editor and academic *

Marc Saikali Marc Saikali ( ar, مارك صيقلي (born 1965) is a French-Lebanese journalist. He has been the Director of the international news television network France 24 since 2012. Biography Saikali comes from a Lebanese family. He studied journalism ...

(b. 1965), Lebanese–French journalist *

Sarah Ladipo Manyika Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a British-Nigerian writer of novels, short stories and essays and an active member of the literary community, particularly supporting and amplifying young writers and female voices. She is author of two well received nove ...

(b. 1969), British Nigerian writer

Performing arts

Luc Plissonneau Luc Plissonneau (born September 21, 1961) is a French screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing and directing the short films ''Fil Rouge,'' ''Angela est partie,'' and ''Les Mains.'' Biography Luc Plissonneau was born in Bor ...

(b. 1961), French screenwriter and film director *

Morteza Heidari Morteza Heidari ( fa, مرتضی حیدری) (born 17 June 1968 in Tehran) is an Iranian TV presenter. His surname is also spelled Heydari. Career By 2009 he was an interview moderator of political and news programs on IRIB's Channel 2.

(b. 1968), Iranian TV presenter

Politics

Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac Jean-Baptiste Sylvère Gay, 1st Viscount of Martignac (20 June 1778 3 April 1832) was a moderate royalist French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration 1814–30 under King Charles X. Biography Martignac was born in Bordeaux, France. In 179 ...

(1778–1832), French statesman *

Jean Ybarnégaray Michel Albert Jean Joseph Ybarnégaray (; 16 October 1883 – 25 April 1956) was a French Basque politician and founder of the International Federation of Basque Pelota. Jean Ybarnegaray was born in Uhart-Cize, Department of Pyrénées-Atlant ...

(1883–1956), Basque–French politician *

Jean-Fernand Audeguil Jean-Fernand Audeguil (5 January 1887 – 23 November 1956) was a French professor, a member of the resistance and a politician. Early life and education Born in Monclar in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, Audeguil studied at the Universi ...

(1887–1956), French politician *

(1893–1977), Head of State of

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Michel Kafando Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is a Burkinabé diplomat who served as the transitional President of Burkina Faso from 2014

(b. 1942), Burkinabé diplomat *

Xavier Darcos Xavier Darcos (born 14 July 1947) is a French politician, scholar, civil servant and former Minister of Labour. An ''agrégé'' professor in literature and general inspector of the National Education system, he has been Mayor of Périgueux, ...

(b. 1947), French politician, scholar, civil servant and former Minister of Labour *

Jean-Paul Gonzalez Jean-Paul Joseph Gonzalez (born August 28, 1947) is a French virologist. He graduated from the Medical School of Bordeaux University (M.D., Internal Medicine) France. Research career Gonzalez is a virologist whose main fields of research encom ...

(b. 1947), French virologist *

Mario Aoun Mario Aoun (born 1951) is a Lebanese physician and politician. He was a member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) led by Michel Aoun. He was the minister of social affairs between 2008 and 2009. Early life and education Aoun was born into a M ...

(b. 1951), Lebanese politician *

Alain Vidalies Alain Vidalies (born 17 March 1951) was the French Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries from 26 August 2014 to 10 May 2017. He represents the Landes department in the National Assembly of France, and is a member of the So ...

(b. 1951), the French Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries *

Nagoum Yamassoum Nagoum Yamassoum (born 1954) is a Chadian politician who was Prime Minister of Chad from 1999 to 2002 and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2005. He is from the district of Grande Sido in the region of Moyen Chari. Early life a ...

(b. 1954), Chadian politician and former Prime Minister of Chad *

Anicet-Georges Dologuélé Anicet-Georges Dologuélé (born 17 April 1957) is a Central African politician who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 4 January 1999 to 1 April 2001. Subsequently, he was President of the Development Bank of Central African St ...

(b. 1957), Central African politician *

Reza Taghipour Reza Taghipour Anvari (born 1957, in Maragheh) is an Iranian conservative politician who was the Minister of Communications from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as a member of Tehran City Council in 2013 local elections. Censorship Taghipour wa ...

(b. 1957), Iranian conservative politician *

Thierry Santa Thierry Santa (born 29 August 1967) is a French politician in New Caledonia who served the 9th President of the Government of New Caledonia, elected by the cabinet on 6 July 2019. He left office on 22 July 2021. Santa is the leader of The Rally ...

(b. 1967), French Polynesian politician in New Caledonia * Germaine Kouméalo Anaté (b. 1968), Togolese government minister, scholar and writer *

Olivier Falorni Olivier Falorni (born 27 March 1972) is a French politician. He was elected to the French National Assembly on 17 June 2012, representing La Rochelle in the 1st constituency of the department of Charente-Maritime. He was re-elected in 2017 and ...

(b. 1972), French politician *

Myriam El Khomri Myriam El Khomri (born 18 February 1978) is a former French politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who served as Minister of Labour in the government of Prime Minister Manuel Valls from 2015 to 2017. Early life and education El Khomri was bo ...

(b. 1978), French politician

Sciences

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (; 28 May 1738 – 26 March 1814) was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, as a less painful method of execution than ...

(1738–1814), French physician, politician and freemason and namesake of the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

* Célestin Sieur (1860–1955), French physician *

Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard, name sometimes given as Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard-Briau (30 October 1873 – 29 December 1927) was a French pharmacist and botanist. In 1899 he obtained his doctorate in natural sciences at the University of Bordeau ...

(1873–1927), French pharmacist and botanist *

Pierre-Paul Grassé Pierre-Paul Grassé (November 27, 1895 in Périgueux (Dordogne) – July 9, 1985) was a French zoologist, writer of over 300 publications including the influential 52-volume ''Traité de Zoologie''. He was an expert on termites and one of the las ...

(1895–1985), French zoologist *

Émile Peynaud Émile Peynaud (June 29, 1912 – July 18, 2004) was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology". Biogr ...

(1912–2004), French oenologist *

Laure Gatet Laure Gatet (19 July 1913 – 25 February 1943) was a French pharmacist, biochemist, and a spy for the French Resistance during World War II. Gatet was born on 19 July 1913 in Boussac-Bourg, France. After attending several schools in the So ...

(1913–1943), French pharmacist, biochemist and spy *

Basile Adjou Moumouni Basile Adjou Moumouni (October 25, 1922 – November 12, 2019) was a Beninese physician. He was active in his native country when the west Africa country of Republic of Benin was called Dahomey. Spending almost his entire adult life outside his ...

(1922–2019), Beninese physician *

Roland Paskoff Roland Paskoff (20 March 1933 – 14 September 2005) was a French geologist expert in coastal geomorphology including Holocene tectonics and sea level change. While he was active studying the coast of the countries where he held university posi ...

(1933–2005), French geologist *

Jean-Marie Tarascon Jean-Marie Tarascon FRSC (born September 21, 1953) is Professor of Chemistry at the Collège de France in Paris and Director of the French Research Network on Electrochemical Energy Storage (RS2E). Education Tarascon was educated at the University ...

(b. 1953), French chemist and professor *

Bruno Vallespir Bruno Vallespir (born 1960) is a French engineer, and Professor of Enterprise Modelling at the University of Bordeaux, working in the fields of production management, performance evaluation and enterprise modeling.Ejub Kajan eds. (2011) ''Electron ...

(b. 1960), French engineer and professor

Sports

* Jean-Pierre Escalettes (b. 1935), French retired footballer *

Karounga Keïta Karounga Keïta (1941 – 5 March 2023) was a Malian football official, coach and player in France and Mali, and president of one of Mali's two largest club sides Djoliba AC. Keïta was born in Toukoto, Mali on September 22, 1941.

(b. 1941), Malian football official and former coach and player *

Bixente Lizarazu Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu (, born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams. He also had 97 caps for the France national team. In a twelve-year i ...

(b. 1969), Basque–French retired footballer

Visual arts

Charles James Charles James may refer to: * Charles James (British Army officer) (1757/8–1821), English army officer and writer * Charles James (attorney) (born 1954), former U.S. assistant attorney general * Charles James (American football) (born 1990), Amer ...

(1906–1978), English-American fashion designer

Winemaking

Emma Gao Emma Gao is a Chinese oenologist, who is the chief winemaker at Silver Heights winery, one of China's most prestigious vineyards. Biography Born in China, Gao moved to France in 1999, aged 21, to study oenology at the University of Bordeaux, wh ...

References

Literature

''International Dictionary of University Histories''
Routledge, 2013, pp. 429–431. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bordeaux 0, University Of

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

Educational institutions established in the 15th century 1441 establishments in Europe 1440s establishments in France Forestry education Universities and colleges formed by merger in France