Furet, François

(1927-1997)

   historian

   Born in Paris, François Furet, as a member of the Annales school of historiography, sought to put forth a conceptual history, at once problematic and construed, that gives priority to the study of phenomena over long periods (L'Alphabétisation des français, 1976). A specialist in the French revolution of 1789 (Penser la Révolution française, 1978; La Révolutions, 1770-1880, 1988), he opposed giving a Marxist interpretation to that historical event and proposed instead the idea of a "revolution" as a "plurisecular" occurrence, of which the outcome is only an "epiphenomenon." Regarding the view expressed in 1989 at the bicentennial of the Revolution, that left-wing divisions in French society established at the time of the Revolution have largely changed, Furet agreed, stating in a widely quoted phrase, "the Revolution is over." Furet was elected to the Académie Française in 1997.