Sixteenth Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture in French History.
The Society for the Study of French History
and
The Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France
Present:
The Annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture,
Monday 12th January 2026.
Disconnected Families: Women, War, and Migrations in French India during the Age of Revolutions
Professor Renaud Morieux (University of Cambridge)
The 2026 Annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture will be the 16th in this series, organised by the Society for the Study of French History and the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France. It will be held at the the Institut français, South Kensington, London.
Registration is essential, though attendance is free. Reservations can be made using the following link:
[TICKET LINK TO FOLLOW]
We are delighted to welcome Professor Renaud Morieux (University of Cambridge) to give a paper entitled ‘Disconnected Families: Women, War, and Migrations in French India during the Age of Revolutions’.
Abstract:
The French Revolution was a global event, whose repercussions were felt across the Indian Ocean. In the 1790s, the clash between empires led to the invasion of the French settlements in India by the armies of the British India Company. Many husbands, fathers and sons were captured, deported, or killed, while others simply vanished, leaving behind their partners and children. What happened to the women? This lecture tells this story of forced displacements, family breakups, and survival, from their perspective.
Previous Lectures:
The First Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Julian Jackson (Queen Mary University of London), ‘The Century of Charles de Gaulle’ (November 2010).
[details and video/podcast of event]
The Second Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Richard Thomson (Edinburgh University), ‘New Wine in Old Bottles: Adapting and Abusing Tradition in French Visual Culture, 1880-1910’ (January 2012).
[details and podcast of event]
The Third Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Ruth Harris, (New College, Oxford), ‘Rolland, Gandhi and Madeleine Slade: Spiritual Politics, France and the Wider World’ (January 2013).
[details and podcast of event]
The Fourth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Andrew Knapp, (University of Reading), ‘Bombing and Memory: Britain and France, 1940-1945’ (January 2014).
[details and podcast of event]
The Fifth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor John Horne, (Trinity College Dublin), ‘Myth or Model? The French Revolution in the Great War’ (January 2015).
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The Sixth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Siân Reynolds, (University of Stirling), ‘Children of the Revolutionaries’ (January 2016).
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The Seventh Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Colin Jones (Queen Mary), ‘Rethinking Robespierre and the French Revolutionary Terror’ (January 2017).
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The Eighth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Malcolm Crook (Keele), ‘How the British and French Learned to Vote’ (January 2018).
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The Ninth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Máire Cross (Newcastle University), ‘Too Hot to Handle? Flora Tristan (1803-1844) Campaigner for Gender Equlality’ (January 2019).
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The Tenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Debra Kelly (University of Westminster), ‘Free French Food: Dining Out With the Free French in Wartime London’ (January 2020).
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The Eleventh Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Michael Boers (University of Oxford), ‘Napoleon as a European: A Certain Vision of France & Europe’ (January 2021).
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The Twelfth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Penny Roberts (University of Warwick), ‘The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacres 450 years on’ (January 2022).
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The Thirteenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Chris Tinker (Heriot-Watt University), ‘À la vie, à la mort: Media Representations of Posthumous Celebrity in France and the UK’ (January 2023).
The Fourteenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Amy Livingstone (University of Lincoln), ‘Adventures in the French Archives: Finding Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, c.1070-1147’ (January 2024).
The Fifteenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Hanna Diamond (University of Cardiff), ‘Uncovering Josephine Baker’s War: A Historian’s Journey’
(January 2025).
