Pierre Vidal-Naquet

Pierre Vidal-Naquet, born July 23, 1930 in Paris's 7th arrondissement and died July 29, 2006 in Nice, is a French historian. A specialist in the history of ancient Greece, he also played a role in various areas of French intellectual and political life. In addition to ancient Greece, his preferred field, he is interested in contemporary topics such as the Algerian War and the Holocaust. He came from a Jewish family from Carpentras. The Vidal-Naquets enjoyed upward social mobility during the 19th century, settling in Montpellier, then Marseille, and finally Paris, in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. On May 15, 1944, his parents, Lucien and Marguerite, were arrested by the Gestapo and taken to Drancy, then on Convoy No. 75 on May 30, 1944, and deported to Auschwitz, where they both died shortly after. However, the three children escaped arrest and were initially housed by teachers. It wasn't until the start of the 1945 school year that Pierre Vidal-Naquet became certain they would not return.