André Jean Tudesq

Born in Montpellier in 1927, André-Jean Tudesq studied history after a brief start in law, earned the agrégation in 1952, and later taught at the Sorbonne before settling in Bordeaux in 1961. He became a longtime professor at what is now Université Bordeaux Montaigne and was also a member of the Académie nationale des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Bordeaux.

His scholarship ranged widely. He is especially known for a major thesis on Les grands notables en France (1840-1849), a landmark study of social and political elites under the July Monarchy, and for later pioneering work on African media. Trained as a historian, he also helped support the growth of information and communication studies, while continuing to write on contemporary history and the history of radio and television.

Tudesq died on December 2, 2009, at the age of 82. Colleagues remembered him not only for the breadth of his publications, but also for his generosity, his steady presence in Bordeaux’s intellectual life, and his gift for connecting historical research with newer fields of study.