{{Short description|Historian of Madagascar}} {{Infobox academic | name = Solofo Randrianja | citizenship = [[Madagascar]] | occupation = | period = | known_for = | website = | education = | alma_mater = [[Paris Diderot University]] | thesis_title = Le Parti Communiste (Section Française de l'Internationale Communiste) de la Région de Madagascar, 1936-39, genèse, développement et décomposition | thesis_url = | thesis_year = 2004 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = Françoise Raison-Jourde | academic_advisors = [[Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch]], [[Michelle Perrot]] | discipline = Historian | sub_discipline = History of Madagascar | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | footnotes = }}
'''Solofo Randrianja''' is a [[Malagasy people|Malagasy]] [[scholar]] and [[historian]] of Madagascar. He is currently a professor at [[University of Toamasina]] and, with [[Stephen Ellis (historian)|Stephen Ellis]], wrote ''Madagascar: A Short History'', a foundational reference work for the field.
==Life==
===Education and early career=== Randrianja was raised in Madagascar, where his father was a political organizer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Larson |first1=Pier |date=2010 |title=Review: AN IMPRESSIVE SYNTHESIS OF MADAGASCAR'S HISTORY |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40985018 |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=51 |issue=1 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=120–122 |doi=10.1017/S0021853710000174 |access-date=27 February 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Randrianja earned a Ph.D. and [[habilitation]] from the [[Paris Diderot University|Denis Diderot University of Paris VII]]. During political unrest in Madagascar, Randrianja was a potential target due to his advocacy of democracy. He and his family fled to Chicago.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harms |first=William |date=21 November 2002 |title=From Tamatave, Madagascar, to Chicago–scholar's arduous journey leads to safety at University |url=http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/021121/scholar.shtml |work=[[University of Chicago|University of Chicago Chronicle]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref>
===Later career=== With Stephen Ellis, Randrianja wrote ''Madagascar: A Short History'', considered by the [[African studies|Africanist]] academic community to be a critical reference work in Malagasy history.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fourshey |first1=Catherine Cymone |date=21 December 2011 |title=Madagascar: A Short History |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17532523.2011.634172 |journal=[[African Historical Review]] |volume=43 |issue=2 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=127–129 |doi=10.1080/17532523.2011.634172 |access-date=29 January 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duffy |first1=Rosaleen |date=2009 |title=Madagascar: a short history |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/madagascar-a-short-history-by-solofo-randrianja-and-stephen-ellis-london-hurst-and-company-2009-pp-viii316-1500-pbk/74773DF6E0F1D7DE70DC6D005C4086DD |journal=[[Journal of Modern African Studies]] |volume=47 |issue=4 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=634–635 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X09990127 |access-date=29 January 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In fact, the only prior history of Madagascar written in English was published in 1995 by British diplomat [[Mervyn Brown]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ratsimbaharison |first1=Adrien |date=2010 |title=Madagascar: A Short History (review) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/53/article/384939/pdf |journal=[[African Studies Review]] |volume=53 |issue=1 |publisher=[[African Studies Association]] |pages=175–177 |doi=10.1353/arw.0.0304 |access-date=29 January 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> During this time, he was also awarded a fellowship at the [[African Studies Centre Leiden]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Solofo Randrianja |url=https://www.ascleiden.nl/organization/people/solofo-randrianja |website=[[African Studies Centre Leiden]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Leiden University]] |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref> Following the [[2009 Malagasy political crisis|2009 Malagasy coup d'état]], Randrianja edited and published a collection of viewpoints and analyses on the incident, ''Madagascar, le coup d'État de mars 2009''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chanda |first=Tirthankar |date=11 December 2013 |title=Solofo Randrianja: «Tous les ingrédients d'une nouvelle crise sont présents» à Madagascar |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20131112-madagascar-solofo-randrianja-robinson-jean-louis-hery-second-tour-presidentielle |trans-title=Solofo Randrianja: “all the ingredients for a new crisis are present” in Madagascar |work=[[Radio France Internationale]] |language=fr |location= |publisher=[[France Médias Monde]] |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref> Later in the 2010s, Randrianja served as a fellow at the [[Some Institutes for Advanced Study|Nantes Institute for Advanced Study]]<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2013 |title= Solofo RANDRIANJA |url=https://www.iea-nantes.fr/en/fellows/solofo-randrianja |website= |location= |publisher=[[Some Institutes for Advanced Study|Nantes Institute for Advanced Study]] |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref> and at the [[Taiwan Foundation for Democracy]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=16 November 2011 |title=The presentation Dr. Solofo Randrianja, International Visiting Fellow, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy |url=https://www.tfd.org.tw/en/media/album/2011 |website=[[Taiwan Foundation for Democracy]]. |location= |publisher= |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref>
Randrianja has been interviewed as a political expert on contemporary Madagascar politics, particularly in light of the contentious [[2023 Malagasy presidential election]].<ref>{{cite interview |last=Randrianja |first=Solofo |date=13 August 2021 |title=President Andry Rajoelina is driving Madagascar into another political crisis |url=https://theconversation.com/president-andry-rajoelina-is-driving-madagascar-into-another-political-crisis-165865 |work=[[The Conversation (website)#The Conversation Africa|The Conversation Africa]] |interviewer-last=Spooner |interviewer-first=Moina |publisher=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite interview |last=Randrianja |first=Solofo |date=16 October 2023 |title=A Madagascar, « toutes les alternances se sont faites en dehors des règles » |trans-title=In Madagascar, “all the changes were made outside the rules” |language=fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/10/16/a-madagascar-toutes-les-alternances-se-sont-faites-en-dehors-des-regles_6194827_3212.html |work=[[Le Monde]] |interviewer-last=Caramel |interviewer-first=Laurence |location= |publisher=[[Groupe Le Monde]] |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref>
He has also served as co-editor-in-chief of the journal ''Identity, Culture, and Politics: an Afro-Asian Dialogue'' (French: ''Identité, culture et politique : un dialogue afro-asiatique'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahmed |first1=Imtiaz |last2=Randrianja |first2=Solofo |date=2011 |title=Notes from the editors |url=https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/icp/article/view/5136/5430 |journal=Identity, Culture, and Politics: an Afro-Asian Dialogue |volume=12 |issue=2 |publisher=[[Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa]] |pages=v–1 |doi= |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref>
==Selected works== *''Madagascar: A Short History'' (with Stephen Ellis) {{ISBN|9781850658924}} *''Madagascar: Ethnies Et Ethnicité'' (ed., with Robert Jaovelo-Dzao) {{ISBN|9782869781337}} *''Madagascar, le coup d'État de mars 2009'' (ed.) {{ISBN|9782811106058}} *''Société et luttes anticoloniales à Madagascar: de 1896 à 1946'' {{ISBN|9782845861367}} *''La nation malgache au défi de l'ethnicité'' (with Françoise Raison-Jourde) {{ISBN|9782845861367}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randrianja, Solofo}} [[Category:Paris Diderot University alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Malagasy educators]] [[Category:21st-century Malagasy people]] [[Category:Historians of Africa]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]