The Association was founded in 1984 by the descendants of François Guizot. Following changes over the years, it was renamed the Association François Guizot in 2011. Its aim is to encourage studies of the work, particularly the intellectual and political work, of François Guizot, and also to promote the family and institutional archives of Guizot and his family. In 2019, the Association was listed in the directory of learned societies of the CTHS.
The Association provides a framework for systematising actions to mediate and promote this family, historical and intellectual heritage.
The Association has carried out a number of initiatives over the years. These can be divided into four areas:
- Organising conferences in 1987, 1993 and 2008.
- Creation of the Prix Guizot issued every two years:
- Prix Guizot-Conseil général du Calvados 1994-2012 then
- Prix François Guizot-Institut de France since 2014
- François Furet was the first president of the jury until his death in 1997. He was replaced by Jean-Claude Casanova.
- Successive prizes have been awarded to the following winners: Jacques Krynen, Eric Roussel, Lucien Jaume, Pierre Milza, Mona Ozouf, Simon Leys, Alain Finkielkraut, Arlette Jouanna, Edouard Balladur, Pierre Manent, Jacques Julliard, Alain Besançon, Olivier Grenouilleau, Catherine Maire.
- Making the most of archives :
- 2002: Publication of Guizot's letters to his daughter Henriette
- 2014 : Guizot's archives at Val Richer deposited with the National Archives
- 2020 : Digital publication of first corpus of correspondence between François Guizot and Dorothée de Lieven from 1836 to 1856 on the EMAN platform (ITEM/ENS-CNRS). This project is part of the 2020 Awards of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques for the price of Fondation des travaux historiques et scientifiques.
- Digital publications : Another important action from a cultural and historical perspective was the creation in 2008 of the website www.staging.guizot.com bringing together documentary content on Guizot, his family and his political and intellectual work. Most of the content has been compiled by the historian Laurent Theis. The site is regularly enriched and updated by adding to existing themes and monitoring scientific and historical works devoted to Guizot and his work.
The Association is firmly rooted in the region through its strong links with Val-Richer in the commune of Saint Ouen le Pin (Calvados). In 1836, François Guizot, Louis-Philippe's Minister of Education, was looking for a residence in the constituency of Lisieux, where he had been elected deputy. He bought the former Val-Richer abbey in the Pays d'Auge. In 1926, Guizot's descendants founded the Société Civile du Val-Richer to preserve the estate.
The Association is open to anyone interested in Guizot's work. For further information, please contact contact@guizot.com