Françoise Thom (born 1951) is a French historian and Sovietologist, honorary lecturer in contemporary history at Paris-Sorbonne University. A specialist in post-communist Russia, she is the author of works of political analysis on the country and its leaders.

Françoise Thom
Born1951
Strasbourg, France
OccupationHistorian
Spouse
Georges Mamoulia
(m. 2005)
ParentRené Thom
Academic background
Alma materParis-Sorbonne University
ThesisDe l'URSS à la Russie (1929-2011). Politique intérieure, politique étrangère, les imbrications (2011)
Doctoral advisorOlivier Forcade [fr]
Other advisorsAlain Besançon
Academic work
DisciplineContemporary history
Sub-disciplineSovietology
InstitutionsParis-Sorbonne University

Early life and education

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Françoise Thom was born in Strasbourg, 1951.[1] Her parents are René Thom, a mathematician known for his theory of catastrophes and winner of the Fields Medal, and of Suzanne Helmlinger. Françoise has two siblings, Elizabeth and Christian.[2]

Thom has a degree in Russian.[3]

Career

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She lived for three years in the Soviet Union, then taught Russian in secondary schools in Ferney-Voltaire and Calais. She is a research associate at the Institut français de polémologie. In 1983, she defended a thesis entitled La Langue de bois soviétique : description, rôle et fonctionnement, directed by Alain Besançon at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.[4]

She was then appointed lecturer in contemporary history at Paris-Sorbonne University. In 2011, she presented a dissertation entitled De l'URSS à la Russie (1929-2011). Politique intérieure, politique étrangère, les imbrications, for which Olivier Forcade [fr] was the supervisor, at the Paris-Sorbonne University.[5]

She published her thesis in a book entitled, La Langue de bois, in 1987.[6][7] She also published L'École des barbares, with Isabelle Stal, in 1985, Le Moment Gorbatchev (1989),[8] and Les Fins du communisme (1994).

In 1998, she co-authored, with Jean Foyer, Jacques Julliard, and Jean-Pierre Thiollet, the book, La Pensée unique - Le vrai procès. She collected, translated, prefaced and annotated the memoirs and analyses of Sergo Beria, son of Lavrentiy Beria, published in 1999 under the title Beria, mon père : au cœur du pouvoir stalinien.[9] In 2013, she finally published a biography of Beria, under the title Beria. le Janus du Kremlin.[10] In 2018, she published Comprendre le poutinisme (Understanding Putinism), in which she recalls Vladimir Putin's former membership in the KGB and studies the "propaganda of Russian power".[3]

Personal life

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In April 2005, she married historian Georges Mamoulia.[citation needed]

Selected works

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Books

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  • L'École des barbares, with Isabelle Stal, Paris, Julliard, 1985
  • La langue de bois, Paris, Julliard, 1987
  • Les fins du communisme, Paris, Critérion, 1994
  • Le Moment Gorbatchev, Paris, Hachette, 1989
  • Beria : Le Janus du Kremlin, Paris, Cerf, 2013 924 p. ISBN 978-2204101585
  • Géopolitique de la Russie, with Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je?", 2016
  • Comprendre le poutinisme, Paris/Perpignan, Desclée De Brouwer, 2018, 240 p. ISBN 978-2-220-09426-7
  • La Marche à rebours. Regards sur l’histoire soviétique et russe, Paris, Sorbonne Université Presses, collection "Mondes contemporains", 2021, 724 p. ISBN 979-10-231-0686-2
  • Poutine ou l'obsession de la puissance, Litos, 2022, 248 p.

Articles

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  • "Les Occidentaux devant la fin de l’Union soviétique", Commentaire, no 118, February 2007, pp. 373-382
  • "Le parti russe en France", Commentaire, February 2016, pp. 432-436

Editor

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  • Beria, Sergo, Beria, mon père : au cœur du pouvoir stalinien, Plon/Critérion, 1999, 448 p. ISBN 9782259190169

References

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  1. ^ "FRANÇOISE THOM - Rencontres et débats". rencontres-et-debats-autrement.org. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. ^ Who's who in France. J. Lafitte. 1997. p. 1634. ISBN 978-2-85784-035-0. OCLC 1604694.
  3. ^ a b Mandraud, Isabelle (21 October 2019). "Françoise Thom, la procureure de Poutine". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ Thom, Françoise (1983). La Langue de bois soviétique: description, rôle et fonctionnement (Thesis) (in French). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Mme Françoise Thom Mamulia - De l'URSS à la Russie (1929-2011). Politique intérieure, politique étrangère, les imbrications. [HDR]". lettres.sorbonne-universite.fr (in French). 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2023 – via archive.wikiwix.com.
  6. ^ Tinguy, Anne de (1989). "Basile Kerblay. La Russie de Gorbatchev ; Françoise Thom. Le moment Gorbatchev". Politique étrangère (in French). 54 (4): 788–790. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  7. ^ Lenclud, Gérard (1987). "Parler bois. A propos d'un ouvrage de Françoise Thom". Études rurales (in French). 107 (1): 257–68. doi:10.3406/rural.1987.3217. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  8. ^ Gourg, Marianne (1993). "Françoise Thom, le Moment Gorbatchev,1991". La Revue russe (in French). 5 (1): 101–104. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  9. ^ Chesnais, Jean-Claude (1999). "Beria, mon père. Au coeur du pouvoir stalinien, éd. Françoise Thom". Politique étrangère (in French). 64 (3): 752. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  10. ^ Paoli, Paul-François (20 November 2013). "Les mystères Beria". LEFIGARO (in French). Retrieved 28 January 2023.