Le patronage des professeurs et la formation du savoir géographique français. Une exploration bio-bibliographique d’une centaine de monographies régionales hors-métropole, de 1893 à 1969

Abstract

French academic geography during the major part of the 20th century is especially renowned for its regional monographs, written as doctoral theses. Foreign geographers think, first and foremost, of those monographs about regions of France, however a large amount of doctoral work covered non-metropolitan regions. Using professorial patronage as a lens, this article focuses on the production and reception of one hundred theses completed between 1893 and 1969. Dubois and Vidal de La Blache supported the first cohort, to be followed by an interwar generation under the patronage of professors at the Sorbonne and to a much lesser extent in the provinces. After 1945, the production of doctoral theses greatly increased, with patrons in Paris being complemented by provincial counterparts, especially in Bordeaux. Only three of the hundred candidates considered here were women. Academic advancement for most geographers with non-metropolitan experience meant returning to a university post in France, however many retained a passionate attachment to their fieldwork region.