author
Gilbert Chinard
1881–1972
A French-born scholar who made a career of tracing the deep ties between France and America, he wrote with energy about Jefferson, the early republic, and the long history of cultural exchange across the Atlantic. His work helped turn Franco-American studies into a field of its own.
1 Audiobook
Thomas Jefferson, the Apostle of Americanism
by Gilbert Chinard
About the author
Born in Châtellerault, France, on October 17, 1881, Gilbert Chinard studied at the Universities of Poitiers and Bordeaux before moving to the United States in 1908. He taught at Brown, the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins, and later joined Princeton University, where he became a leading professor of French literature and a major voice in the study of Franco-American relations.
Chinard wrote more than 40 books and was especially known for his work on Thomas Jefferson, early American thought, and the ways French and American ideas shaped one another. His research ranged across literature, history, and intellectual life, and he had a gift for showing how people, books, and political ideals traveled between the two countries.
He was also deeply involved in scholarly life beyond the classroom. Chinard served as president of the Modern Language Association, belonged to the American Philosophical Society, and played an important role in the Institut Français d’Amerique. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, on February 8, 1972, leaving behind a body of work that still speaks to readers interested in the meeting of cultures and ideas.