{{Short description|French historian}} '''Pierre Gaxotte''' (19 November 1895 – 21 November 1982) was a French historian. He was born in Revigny en Barrois now called Revigny-sur-Ornain, Meuse<ref>He tells about his native village in his memoir 'My village and me', describing with happiness its traditions.</ref>.
== A life of historian of the modern period and journalist too == He was student at the higher normal school of the rue d'Ulm. Received first in the aggregation exam, he begins a long study on provincial "intendants" of the "Ancien Régime", a thesis that he does not finish or support<ref>Article "N'oublions pas Gaxotte" (Let’s not forget Gaxotte) of François Bluche from the newspaper ''Le Figaro'' for December 16, 1995, reproduced in extenso in François Bluche, ''Au plaisir de l'Histoire, Libre écrits'', Librairie Académique Perrin, 2001, 308 pages, ISBN 2-262-01839-1. (in particular article p. 259-261)</ref>.
He began his career as a history teacher at the Lycée Charlemagne. He is famous for his critical vision of the French Revolution, notably in ''The French Revolution'' (1928),<ref>Beum, Robert. [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/39_03/beum.pdf "Ultra-Royalism Revisited,"] ''Modern Age,'' Summer 1997.</ref> and for his rehabilitation of the French 18th century (''Louis XV's Century'', 1933)<ref>Pierre Gaxotte also wrote "Frédéric II", "Histoire de l'Allemagne" (History of Germany), "Histoire des Français" (History of the French) , "Paris au XVIIIe siècle" (Paris in the 18th century) etc.</ref>.
Private secretary of Charles Maurras, "royalist of reason", like Jacques Bainville, he improvised himself as a journalist by participating in the foundation of "Candide", weekly periodical gaining an intellectual success. He is also known as a far-right-wing journalist of the ''Entre-deux-Guerres'' period, with links to the Action française and the newspaper ''Je suis partout''. He left the position of editor at the newspaper in 1937, being replaced by Robert Brasillach.
By no means adhering to collaboration, he followed with lukewarm enthusiasm the first steps of the Vichy regime. Since 1942, he believes in the allied victory<ref>Article "N'oublions pas Gaxotte" of François Bluche, ibidem, p. 260. His funeral eulogy of François Mauriac is proof that he hated political extremes and remained foreign to any sectarianism, according to François Bluche. He felt closer to Antoine Pinay than monarchist groups constantly looking for scandals.</ref>. He later worked as a columnist for ''Le Figaro''.
As editor, he directs the famous yellow collection of Fayard, entitled "Les grandes études historiques" (The great historical studies). Over the course of his life he authored numerous historical studies, and was elected to the ''Académie française'' in 1953.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.academie-francaise.fr/les-immortels/pierre-gaxotte|title=Pierre Gaxotte (1895-1982) |author=Académie française |authorlink=Académie française |language=French |year=2011 |publisher=Academie-francaise.fr |accessdate=21 November 2011 }}</ref>
Pierre Gaxotte lived in a mundane building on Froidevaux street near the Montparnasse cemetery. He trained many young students in history, for example Denis Richet, Michel Antoine, Jacques Van den Heuvel, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie and François Bluche<ref>Article "N'oublions pas Gaxotte", ibidem, p. 261.</ref>. He was at the end of his life anastonishing reincarnation of Voltaire by his attitudes and words of imitation. He had published a political fiction in the line of Voltaire’s tales, "Le Nouvel Ingénu".
==Works in English translation== * ''The French Revolution,'' C. Scribner's Sons, 1932.<ref>Andrews, George Gordon. "The French Revolution by Pierre Gaxotte," ''The Journal of Modern History,'' Vol. V, No. 1, Mar., 1933.</ref><ref>Brinton, Crane. "The French Revolution by Pierre Gaxotte," ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 26, No. 6, Dec., 1932.</ref> * ''Louis XV and His Times,'' J. B. Lippincott Co., 1934. * ''Frederick the Great,'' G. Bell and Sons, 1941 [Rep. by Yale University Press, 1942; Greenwood Press, 1975].<ref>Trevor-Roper, Hugh. "Frederick the Great," ''Horizon,'' July 1941.</ref><ref>Brinton, Crane. "The Aggressor Can Win," ''The Saturday Review,'' May 9, 1942.</ref> * ''The Age of Louis XIV,'' Macmillan, 1970.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaxotte, Pierre}} Category:1895 births Category:1982 deaths Category:People from Meuse (department) Category:French monarchists Category:People affiliated with Action Française Category:Members of the Académie Française Category:École normale supérieure (Paris) alumni Category:Historians of the French Revolution Category:French male non-fiction writers Category:20th-century French historians Category:20th-century French male writers Category:Le Figaro people