André Lespagnol (26 July 1943 – 13 September 2020) was a

French politician The politics of France take place within the framework of a semi-presidential systems, semi-presidential system determined by the Constitution of France, French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "in ...

and professor. He held an

Agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in history and first taught in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

before heading to the

University of Rennes 2 Rennes 2 University (UR2; , officially Université Rennes-II Haute-Bretagne) is a public university located in Upper Brittany, France. It is one of the four universities of the Academy of Rennes. The main campus is situated in the northwest of ...

, focusing on the history of

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

. He was president of the University of Rennes 2 from 1991 to 1996 before becoming Rector of the Academy of Reims, then Créteil. In 2004, he was elected vice-president of the

Regional Council of Brittany In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), an ...

, serving until 2010.

Biography

Lespagnol attended

Lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

s in

La Baule-Escoublac La Baule-Escoublac (; Gallo: ''Écoubiâ'', , ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a commune in Loire-Atlantique, a department in Pays de la Loire, western France. History Seaside resort In 1879, when the Saint-Nazaire- Croisic railroa ...

and

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

before beginning his studies in history at the

University of Nantes Nantes University () is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire and La Roche-sur-Yon. The university ...

and subsequently, the

University of Rennes The University of Rennes (French: ''Université de Rennes'') is a public university, public research university located in Rennes, Upper Brittany, France. Originally founded in 1460, the university was split into two universities in 1970: Univers ...

. He received an

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in history in 1965 and began teaching at the Lycée Ambroise-Paré in Laval before working as a research assistant at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

in Canada until 1970. He returned to France to work as an assistant at the newly-formed University of Rennes 2. He became an assistant professor in 1978, a lecturer in 1984, and finally became a professor of history in 1990 after defending his doctoral thesis the prior year. Lespagnol was elected president of the University of Rennes 2 in 1991. The university developed much of its infrastructure during his presidency, with the opening of the Harp Campus in 1993 being a major step. A social science research center was also created as part of the

Modernization plans of French universities During the 1990s and the 2000s, the France, French French government, governments have launched the modernization plans of French universities (in French, ''plans de modernisation des universités françaises''). Investments of the state had been i ...

. Several structural changes were also made. The

Presses Universitaires de Rennes The Presses Universitaires de Rennes or PUR (''Rennes University Press'') is the largest French university press. Founded in 1984, PUR publishes around 200 books every year. It is located in Rennes in Brittany on the University of Rennes 2 – Up ...

revised its statutes. The university also signed an agreement with the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

in 1995. Jean Brihault, elected on 15 March 1996, would succeed Lespagnol as president of the university. Lespagnol was appointed Rector of the Academy of Reims on 25 November 1998 and took office on 2 December. He would take care of several tasks, such as the revival of priority zones, reform in lyceés, decentralized movement of lycée staff, and the establishment on multi-site middle schools in rural areas to help avoid their closure. He helped prepare contracts between the Ministry of Education and the French Government. André Lespagnol died on 13 September 2020 at the age of 77.

Decorations

*Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(1998)

Books

*''Histoire de Saint-Malo et du pays malouin'' (1984) *''Les Mutations économiques et sociales au xixe siècle'' (1984) *''Jacques Cartier'' (1984) *''Saint-Malo'' (1990) *''Messieurs de Saint-Malo : Une élite négociante au temps de Louis XIV'' (1991) *''La Course malouine au temps de Louis XIV : entre l'argent et la gloire'' (1995) *''Les Bretons et la Mer'' (2005) *''Les Français, la Terre et la Mer : XIIIe-XXe siècle'' (2005) *''Mutations économiques et sociales : 1780–1880'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lespagnol, André 1943 births 2020 deaths 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians Nantes University alumni University of Rennes alumni Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Academic staff of the University of Rennes Academic staff of Rennes 2 University People from Finistère Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite French academic administrators 20th-century French historians