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| Pierre Gaxotte | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pierre Gaxotte |
| Birth date | 9 September 1895 |
| Death date | 21 December 1982 |
| Birth place | Revigny-sur-Ornain, France |
| Occupation | Historian, essayist, journalist |
| Notable works | La Cour d'Espagne, Histoire de la Louisiane, Louis XV |
| Awards | Grand Prix de l'Académie française |
Pierre Gaxotte was a French historian, essayist, and journalist known for conservative interpretations of French and European history. His career spanned interwar and postwar France, connecting literary criticism, newspaper correspondence, and academic histories that engaged debates around Louis XV of France, Ancien Régime, and French Revolution. Gaxotte's work provoked responses from contemporaries across the political spectrum including Charles Maurras, Raymond Aron, André Malraux, and institutions such as the Académie française and Collège de France.
Gaxotte was born in Revigny-sur-Ornain in the Meuse (department), part of the historical region of Lorraine (French region), into a family shaped by the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and social currents from Third French Republic. He studied in regional schools before attending higher education in Paris, where he was exposed to intellectual circles around the École Normale Supérieure, Sorbonne University, and the periodicals tied to Action Française and Revue des Deux Mondes. During his youth he encountered figures linked to Jules Michelet, François Guizot, and the conservative historiography deriving from Théodore Géricault-era debates, while contemporaries included scholars such as Marc Bloch, Lucien Febvre, and Ernest Lavisse.
Gaxotte began as a literary critic and journalist, contributing to newspapers and reviews like Le Figaro, La France de Paris, and Revue des Deux Mondes, where he mingled with editors from Éditions Gallimard and commentators linked to Maurice Barrès. He wrote theatrical and cultural pieces alongside commentary on figures such as Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Victor Hugo, and Stendhal. In the 1920s and 1930s his journalism placed him among writers who debated the legacy of Jules Romains, Charles Péguy, and the polemical tradition of Charles Maurras and Action Française. He served as a correspondent and columnist during events involving Treaty of Versailles, the politics surrounding the League of Nations, and cultural contests featuring Marcel Proust and Colette.
Gaxotte produced monographs and essays on early modern and modern European subjects, including studies of Spain, England, Prussia, and the Bourbon dynasty. His notable books include works on Louis XV of France, narratives of Ancien Régime decline, and treatments of colonial topics such as Louisiana (New France). He wrote narrative histories reflecting influences from historians like Henri Pirenne, Albert Sorel, Jules Michelet, and critics like Georges Valois. Gaxotte engaged archival materials from institutions such as the Archives Nationales (France), consulted collections linked to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and debated methodological issues raised by the Annales School represented by Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre. His works addressed diplomatic episodes involving the War of the Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the reigns of monarchs tied to Bourbon Spain, House of Habsburg, and Stuart dynasty contexts.
Gaxotte's conservative and nationalist perspectives aligned him with or sympathetic to circles around Action Française and intellectuals such as Charles Maurras and Léon Daudet, producing controversy during the volatile politics of the 1930s and 1940s. During the Vichy France era debates he contributed to publications and positions that attracted criticism from partisans of Charles de Gaulle, Jean Moulin, and the French Resistance. After World War II he faced scrutiny alongside other writers like Robert Brasillach and Joseph Darnand, while defenders compared his scholarship to figures such as André Chamson and Gaston Bouthoul. Critics from the left, including Georges Lefebvre and Albert Soboul, contested his interpretations of French Revolution, while liberal critics like Raymond Aron and literary opponents like André Malraux engaged him in public debate. Institutions such as the Académie française both provided recognition and a forum for controversy involving contemporaries like Maurice Druon and Jean Guitton.
In later decades Gaxotte continued writing histories, essays, and contributions to reviews, receiving honors including the Grand Prix de l'Académie française and election to the Académie française, joining the ranks of writers such as Paul Valéry, Ernest Lavisse, and Henri Bergson. His legacy shaped conservative historiography and prompted reassessments by scholars connected to the Annales School, postwar historians like Alain Decaux, and modern critics reevaluating the Bourbon restoration narratives. Archives of his correspondence intersect with collections related to Éditions Gallimard, the Bibliothèque municipale de Paris, and papers of contemporaries such as Charles Maurras and Raymond Aron. Debates over his political positions persist in studies involving the cultural history of Third French Republic and memory of Vichy regime, while his biographical and narrative approach influences popular histories of Louis XV of France, Ancien Régime, and European dynastic politics.
Category:French historians Category:Members of the Académie française