20 Facts About Albert Soboul

Albert Marius Soboul was a historian of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods.

The children's aunt was a primary school teacher and under her care Albert Soboul blossomed in his education at the lycee of Nimes.

Albert Soboul was uniquely inspired by the educator Jean Morini-Comby, who was himself a published historian of the Revolution.

Albert Soboul excelled in his studies and developed a lifelong passion for history and philosophy.

Albert Soboul published his first work of history, an examination of the ideas of the revolutionary leader Saint-Just, originally attributed to a pseudonym, Pierre Derocles.

Albert Soboul had already become a member of the French Communist Party and remained committed to them under the German occupation.

Albert Soboul received a teaching position at the lycee of Montpellier, but he was dismissed by the Vichy regime in 1942 for supporting Resistance activities.

Albert Soboul spent the rest of the war years doing historical research under the direction of Georges Henri Riviere for the Musee national des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris.

Albert Soboul became a close friend of the eminent historian Georges Lefebvre and under his direction wrote his 1,100-page doctoral dissertation on the revolutionary sans-culottes, The Parisian Sans-culottes in the Year II.

Albert Soboul served as editor of the Annales historiques de la Revolution francaise and lectured frequently throughout the world, acquiring a reputation as "the leading French authority on the Revolution".

Albert Soboul carried forward many of the central viewpoints of earlier historians like Francois Victor Alphonse Aulard and Albert Mathiez and his extensive body of work is characterized by a clear, unfettered writing style and deeply detailed research.

Albert Soboul always rejected labels of his work as Marxist or communist, describing himself as "part of the 'classical' and 'scientific' school of historiography represented by Tocqueville, Jaures and Lefebvre".

Nonetheless, Albert Soboul remains considered a principal architect of the Marxist school of historical analysis.

Albert Soboul propounded the Marxist interpretation arguing the Reign of Terror was a necessary response to outside threats and internal threats.

Francois Furet and his followers have rejected Albert Soboul and argued that foreign threats had little to do with the Terror.

Albert Soboul emphasized the importance of the sans-culottes as a social class, a sort of proto-proletariat that played a central role.

Albert Soboul died in Nimes on the estate of his late aunt Marie.

Toward the end of his life, Albert Soboul's interpretations faced increasing opposition by new historians of the revisionist school, but his work is still regarded as a major contribution to the study of history from below.

Albert Soboul authored scores of books and articles in his native French.

Albert Soboul updated and revised numerous earlier works and often collaborated with other historians in compilations and other projects.