Émile Boutmy (13 April 1835 – 25 January 1906) was a French

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and sociologist who was a native of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He studied law in Paris, and from 1867 to 1870 gave lectures on the

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and culture of civilizations as it pertained to

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the ''

École Spéciale d'Architecture The École spéciale d'architecture (ÉSA; formerly École centrale d'architecture) is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France. The diploma from the École spéciale d'architecture (DESA), recognized by the St ...

''. Being shocked by the ignorance and disinterest in regards to political issues that he observed during the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

, he founded in 1872 the '' Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques'' with important industrialists and academics that included

Hippolyte Taine Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitione ...

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; ; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...

, Albert Sorel and Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. From 1873 to 1890, Boutmy gave classes on the constitutional history of England, France and the United States. In 1879 he was appointed to the ''

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

''. Today the main auditorium of the ''

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

'' (''Sciences Po'') is named in his honor.

Selected writings

* ''Philosophie de l'architecture en Grèce'' (Philosophy of architecture in Greece), 1870 * ''Quelques Observations sur la réforme de l'enseignement supérieur'' (Some observations on the reform of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

), 1876 * ''Etudes de droit constitutionnel'' (Studies of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

), 1888 * ''Le recrutement des administrateurs coloniaux'' (The recruitment of colonial administrators), 1895 * ''Essai d'une psychologie politique du peuple anglais au XIXe siècle'' (Essay on the

political psychology ''Political Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published bimonthly by Wiley on behalf of the International Society of Political Psychology. The editors-in-chief are Orla Muldoon of the University of Limerick, Ireland and James Liu ...

of the people in 19th century England), 1901 * ''Le Parthénon et le génie grec'' (The

Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...

and Greek engineering), 1901 * ''Etudes politiques : La souveraineté du peuple, la Déclaration des droits de l'homme'' (Political studies: The sovereignty of the people, the declaration of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

), 1907 * ''Eléments d'une psychologie politique du peuple américain'' (Elements of the political psychology of the American people), 1911

References

Societes savantes de France
(list of published works). {{DEFAULTSORT:Boutmy, Emile French political scientists French sociologists Writers from Paris 1906 deaths 1835 births University and college founders Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques French male non-fiction writers