It is with deep sadness that the Administrator, the Board of Professors and the entire Collège de France community learn of the death of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Honorary Professor at the Collège de France and holder of the Chairin the History of Modern Civilization from 1973 to 1999.
They pay tribute to a major figure in twentieth-centuryFrench historiography whose work on European peasant societies, from the Middle Ages to the modern era, made a powerful contribution to the success of historical anthropology. His pioneering research on the history of climate is still an essential reference today, and he was one of the first to appreciate the contribution of computer science to the discipline of history. This tireless defender of the cause of books was also an ardent promoter of interdisciplinarity, and he knew how to find the path that leads from a demanding science to a very broad public.
