Monod, Gabriel

Born Mar. 7, 1844, in Ingouville; died Apr. 10, 1912, in Versailles. French historian, member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (1897).

Monod studied in G. Waitz’ seminars at the University of Gottingen. In 1868 he joined the Faculty and later became director of the Ecole Practique des Hautes études, where he introduced the method of student seminars that was prevalent in German universities. He laid the foundations for the training in France of highly qualified archivists and specialists in the study of source material. In 1905 he became a professor at the Collège de France.

Monod founded the Revue historique in 1876. As a liberal positivist, he held that the subject of the study of history should be historical processes (rather than isolated phenomena and individual personalities) that make possible the revelation of historical principles. His studies were devoted mainly to problems in the study of sources and historiography. He gained fame for his Bibliography of the History of France (1888). Monod’s wife was the daughter of A. I. Herzen.