Michel Vovelle

Michel Vovelle(French pronunciation:[miʃɛlvɔvɛl];6 February 1933 – 6 October 2018) was a French historian who specialised in theFrench Revolution.

Vovelle was born inGallardon,nearChartresand he was educated at theLycée Louis-le-Grand,theLycée Henri IV,theÉcole Normale Supérieure of St Cloudand at theUniversity of Paris.He passed hisagrégation d'histoirein 1956 and in 1963 published his first work, an edition ofMarat's writings.

Vovelle's 1971 doctoral dissertation analysed the decline in religious observance inProvencefrom 1680 to 1790. He wrote a volume for the "Nouvelle histoire de la France contemporaine" series titledLa Chute de la monarchie, 1787–1792(1972) and in 1976 producedReligion et Révolution: La Déchristianisation de l'an II.He spent a large part of his academic career at theUniversity of Provencebefore being appointed in 1983 to the Chair of the History of the French Revolution at the University of Paris.

In 1983, Michel Vovelle became president of the scientific and technical council of theMusée de la Révolution française.He was closely associated with theCommunist Party.

Further reading

• Colin Lucas, Lynn Hunt and Donald Sutherland, 'Commentaries on the Papers of William Doyle and Michel Vovelle',French Historical Studies,Vol. 16, No. 4 (Autumn, 1990), p. 756–765.