In an essay published in 2020, Jean-Pierre Rioux considered it desirable to Governing at the center (Stock). A member of François Bayrou's MoDem since the creation of the centrist party, this social Catholic died on Friday December 6 at the age of 85. He leaves a legacy of in-depth reflection on the functioning of the IVe Republic and the evolution of the Veuntil the last legislative episodes, which saddened him. But the passionate and affable man that he was was interested in all periods and all subjects, from the history of culture to the industrial revolution via decolonization.
Descendant of peasant
Born on February 15, 1939 in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine), he was no less attached to the Corrèze roots of his parents, Fernand Rioux and Marguerite Barrière, who moved to Paris from their original Limousin in the intervening years. wars. It was in this countryside that the intellectual on vacation liked to find himself, to read, write, but also drive his tractor, wander the woods and pick mushrooms with his family, whom he cherished.
Pure product of public school, student at the Saint-Ferdinand-des-Ternes school, in Paris, then at the Pasteur high school, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, he entered preparatory classes at Louis-le-Grand then at Henri-IV, where he met his future wife. Then it will be the history course at the Sorbonne. At the time of the Algerian War, a generation of historians – Michel Winock, Jean-Noël Jeanneney, Pierre Nora – was being born.
Graduated in history in 1964, Jean-Pierre Rioux taught high school, in Chartres then in Neuilly, where he had been a student, before giving contemporary history lessons in Nanterre, from 1970 to 1980. He spent the next ten years at the direction of the Institute of History of the Present, a research body of the CNRS, before becoming, in 1991, general inspector of national education. He will remain until 2003. Long member of the editorial board of the journal EspritJean-Pierre Rioux participated in numerous publications, notably those linked to Twentieth century-Review of historyof which he was co-founder and editor-in-chief from 1984.
We must salute his impressive bibliography, knowing how to mix contemporary concerns and fundamental historical studies. From Jean Jaurès to Emmanuel Macron, including political parties and the independence of Algeria, he covered a wide spectrum, making him a reference historian. IV Analyste Republic, he sought to understand both Mendès France and de Gaulle, before publishing committed works, France is losing its memory (Perrin, 2006) or even Long live the history of France! (Odile Jacob, 2015).
The concern to transmit
The deep voice, wearing a very III mustachee Republic, this respected academic did not shy away from the mainstream media, responding with ease and pedagogy to various requests. And it was with fidelity that he could collaborate with various media. Columnist in several press titles, he was at The Cross since 2000, always keen to share his passion for history by making it accessible.
Did he not, with his historian wife, Hélène Rioux (1936-2002), inoculate the virus of history into their children, Rémy Rioux, director general of the French Development Agency (AFD), and Emmanuelle Rioux, editor-in-chief of the magazine Inflexion ? She will publish, in January, an article by her father on the question of fraternity. “Like many in his generation, he was worried about the rise of extremes, explains her daughter. I hear him asking, “What did we miss? Where did we fail?” »
* We will very soon publish the last article that Jean-Pierre Rioux had prepared for the book section of The Crossdedicated to the complete works of Descartes.
