National commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the death of François Guizot

Commemoration held on 10 December 2024 under the dome of the Institut de France

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of François Guizot’s passing, Xavier Darcos, Jean-Claude Casanova, Jacques Verger, Aurelian Craiutu, and Françoise Melonio highlighted various aspects of the rich legacy of Guizot’s work

Guizot, the true pioneer of schools for all,
by Mr Xavier Darcos, Chancellor of the Institut de France.
Guizot and history,
by M. Jacques Verger, member of the Académie
des inscriptions et belles-lettres.
Guizot and the Académie des sciences morales et politiques,
by Mr Jean-Claude Casanova, member of the Académie
des sciences morales et politiques.
Where does the evil come from? Guizot and Tocqueville judge French democracy,
by Françoise Melonio, Emeritus Professor of French
of French literature at Paris IV.
Guizot, the middle ground and the history of representative government,
by Mr. Aurelian Craiutu, Professor at Indiana University.

You can watch the commemoration video again by clicking on the following link (in French).

The following book, published to mark the national commemoration, expands on the presentations made by the 5 speakers.

François Guizot: Historian, Philosopher, Statesman. A collective work. Published by Calmann-Lévy.

History has been unjust to François Guizot.
It has been slow to recognize the significance and breadth of a body of work that has been lazily reduced to a few truncated and decontextualized phrases.

Yet, every one of the numerous domains of knowledge and public action that Guizot engaged with still bears his mark—be it philosophy, history, or the institutions of the state.

A history professor at the Sorbonne, where both Taine and Tocqueville attended his lectures, François Guizot authored works that influenced Marx, who frequently cited him. A thinker of democracy, Guizot explored its foundations and limits in dialogue with Tocqueville.

His achievements as a minister were equally remarkable. The Republic owes him its network of public primary schools, the creation of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences—the precursor to Sciences Po—and, to crown it all, nothing less than the three colors of the French flag.

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his death, the essays collected in this volume by Jean-Claude Casanova, Jacques Verger, Aurelian Craiutu, Françoise Melonio, and Xavier Darcos shed light on the many facets of the rich and fertile legacy Guizot has left us.