French historian dies

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 35

French historian dies

NZPA-Reuter Paris The French scholar, Fernand Braudel, whose works on the Mediterranean developed a new approach to history, has died, aged 83, his publisher said. Widely regarded as one of the century’s greatest historians, Mr Braudel was a founder of the “new history” school, and his research and method won him 20 doctorates. He combined geography, meteorology, social history and the detailed study of ordinary individuals in a broader approach to historical analysis. Mr Braudel edited the influential review “Les Annales” from 1946, and trained a whole generation of French historians in his eclectic tastes. A teaching and then honorary professor at the College de France since 1949, Mr Braudel is perhaps best known for his classic work, “The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World at the Time of Phillip II.” Born in the north-eastern French town of Luneville in 1902, Mr Braudel spent most of his life in academics, holding numerous teaching and research posts in France as well as Algeria and Brazil. He was received into the prestigious French Academy in 1984.