Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
The Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS) ("Committee for Historical and Scientific Work") is a French research institution founded in 1834 that coordinates and connects a network of more than 3,000 learned societies in France . The approximately 700,000 members of the societies benefiting from this include scientists from renowned institutions, local research groups and young scientists alike. The Comité has 255 full members from Germany and abroad who are assigned to its nine sections. In addition to the Presidium, two departments support the work of the Comité: one for the selection of the works to be published, the other for the organization of the congresses organized by the Comité . The committee is affiliated with the École nationale des chartes .
Background and story
François Guizot , then Minister for Public Education, founded a committee by ministerial decree on July 18, 1834, dedicated to the research and publication of unpublished documents (Documents inédits relatifs à l'histoire de France). The committee initially consisted of Abel-François Villemain , Pierre-Claude Daunou , Joseph Naudet (1786–1878; French historian and director of the Bibliothèque Mazarine ), Benjamin Guérard (1797–1854, French publisher and historian), François-Auguste Mignet , Jacques- Joseph Champollion , Claude Fauriel , Ludovic Vitet , Jules Desnoyers , Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac . Gustave Fallot was appointed as secretary .
The background was the fact that, as a result of the French Revolution, the learned societies of France had been smashed, which were now reorganized on the model of English societies. François Guizot, who a year earlier had founded the Société de l'histoire de France as a private association, saw it as the task of the state to research, publish texts, preserve the architectural heritage by providing the appropriate resources and coordinating the Promote activities.
As early as 1835, Guizot convened another committee to research and publish unpublished works of literature, philosophy, sciences, and the arts, if they were of national concern. Among other things, Victor Hugo belonged to it. Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy , successor to Guizot in the office of Minister of Education, now combined the two institutions and set up five departments dedicated to different areas of the research to be funded, such as language and literature, history, chronicles, documents and registers or art and monuments .
The division of the departments changed over time, as did the name of the Comité . Gustave Rouland , Minister of Education after the February Revolution , renamed the institution the Comité des travaux historiques et des sociétés savantes in 1858 . During his tenure, a congress was held in 1861, which brought together 500 representatives of learned societies and at which 82 research projects and their results were presented.
After the committee was placed under the direction of higher education (direction de l'enseignement supérieur) in 1875 , it was given its current name on March 5, 1881: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques .
Structure and members
Since February 9, 2000, the CTHS has been divided into the following nine sections:
- Préhistoire et protohistoire - prehistory and early history
- Histoire et archeologie des civilizations antiques - history and archeology of antiquity
- Histoire et philologie des civilizations médiévales - history and philology of the Middle Ages
- Archeology et histoire de l'art des civilizations médiévales et modern - archeology and art history of the Middle Ages and modern times
- Histoire du monde moderne, de la Révolution française et des révolutions - history of the modern world, the French Revolution and the revolutions
- Histoire contemporaine et du temps présent - contemporary history and the present
- Anthropologie sociale, ethnologie et langues régionales - social anthropology , ethnology and regional languages
- Sciences, histoire des sciences et des techniques et archeologie industrial - science , history of science and technology as well as industrial archeology
- Sciences geographiques et environnement - Earth sciences and the environment
The committee affiliated to the École nationale des chartes as an institute has 255 full members from home and abroad who, as recognized researchers, belong to local or national learned societies and renowned scientific institutions. The president, in 2019 the medievalist Bruno Laurioux , is elected for three years and heads the central commission, which is composed of representatives from the individual sections. The President is supported in his work by a General Delegate. In addition, two commissions are responsible for the publication activities and the annual congresses of the committee.
assignment
The mission of the CTHS is to promote the activities of historical and scientific associations and societies, to coordinate their research and to facilitate the exchange between the associations. It brings together scientists, preservationists, librarians and archivists as well as local scientists and local researchers.
The CTHS annually organizes a congress for almost 1000 participants from the various disciplines represented in the sections. The resulting exchange of methodology, experiences and views is intended to advance the research of the supported societies and increase the quality of the research results.
In addition, the committee organizes the training and further education of the members responsible for scientific and administrative matters in the learned societies. Since 2017 it has been able to honor scientific projects with financial donations. This is how projects are funded that are carried out in cooperation with the École nationale des chartes and the Académie des sciences morales et politiques .
Research and publications
Since its inception and in connection with its original mandate, the CTHS has published scientific publications and source editions. There are also bulletins in which the results of the various sections are published, such as the Bulletin philologique et historique or the Bulletin archéologique . This makes the CTHS one of the oldest scientific publishers. In total, over 1500 titles have been published as Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques . Around 20 new publications are added every year.
The most important works published in the early days of the committee include Brunetto Latini's encyclopedia Li livres dou Trésor (“Treasure Books”), the complete works of René Descartes and Pierre de Fermat . In addition, large, multi-volume works were brought into being: the Dictionnaire géographique de la France , which was later continued under the name Dictionnaire topographique , and the Répertoire archéologique . International research topics were also taken into account. As a result of the Mexico expeditions undertaken by the committee, a dictionary of the Nahuatl language and a description of the ruins of Palenque were published.
literature
- Simone Mazauric: François Guizot et la création du CTHS: les sociétés savantes, la politique et l'histoire. In: Arnaud Hurel (ed.): La France savante. Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, Paris 2017, pp. 84–97 ( online ).