author
Albert Mathiez
1874–1932
A fierce and influential interpreter of the French Revolution, this French historian brought Robespierre, the Jacobins, and popular politics back to the center of the story. His books helped shape 20th-century debates about how revolutions work and who drives them.
1 Audiobook
Les grandes journées de la Constituante
by Albert Mathiez
About the author
Born in La Bruyère, Haute-Saône, on January 10, 1874, Albert Mathiez became one of France's most important historians of the French Revolution. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure and went on to teach history at Besançon, Dijon, and later the Sorbonne.
Mathiez is best remembered for a strongly argued, left-leaning reading of the Revolution. He defended Robespierre far more sympathetically than many earlier historians had, emphasized class conflict and the role of ordinary people, and made the Revolution's social and economic struggles central to his work.
His major books include studies of the Revolution and of revolutionary leaders, and his writing remained influential long after his death in Paris in 1932. Even when later scholars disagreed with him, they often had to reckon with the sharp questions he raised about power, justice, and political change.