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Elisabeth Liris, professor at the Institut d’Histoire de la Révolution française, Université de Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, will present a lecture noon Nov. 16 in the Gendebien Room of Skillman Library as part of the College’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s birthday.
Lafayette is planning a yearlong celebration during 2007-08 in recognition of the life and legacy of the man for whom it is named. Major events will include a lecture series, entitled Lives of Liberty, featuring renowned speakers; a historical exhibit at the Williams Center for the Arts, entitled A Son and his Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington, and a birthday party on Sept. 6.
Liris’ lecture is titled “La Fayette, Hero of the Two Worlds, an Engagement in Freemasonry, between Myth and Reality.” The talk will be translated for the audience prior to the lecture, which is open to the public. A reception with Liris will follow.
“Celebrating Lafayette’s birthday is such a special occasion that we are trying to bring to campus people who have done extensive research and have a very close connection to this figure,” says Olga Anna Duhl, associate professor of foreign languages and literature and a member of the Lafayette celebration committee. “[Liris] is an outstanding scholar who has dedicated her career to Lafayette and the [French] Revolution, and that’s an aspect of Lafayette’s life that is lessknownin this country. His contribution to the French Revolution deserves attention.”
Duhl hopes to use the event to establish a durable relationship between Lafayette and the Institut d’Histoire de la Révolution française, where Liris currently is a research associate, and explore opportunities for Lafayette students who are spending time abroad to pursue research there.
A well-known specialist on the French Revolution and Lafayette, Liris has published widely on the French Revolution. She has covered topics such as Freemasonry; symbolism of the Revolution, including images of women; representations of liberty; iconography of the National Guard; and outstanding figures such as Maximilien Robespierre. She contributed about 30 articles to the Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Liris also is interested in issues surrounding the education of the younger generation, including women, and organized the colloquium “Instruction, Education, and Power” at the Sorbonne. Liris earned her doctorate in history in 1990 from Université de Paris I, Panthéon Sorbonne.