"Surcouf, a legendary sailor", conference at the Cité de l'Histoire in Paris

On Wednesday 15 May 2024, a new conference will be held at the Cité de l'Histoire. The evening will focus on the sailor and navigator Surcouf, thanks to historian Michel Vergé-Franceschi.

Michel Vergé-Franceschi will be at the Cité de l'Histoire on Wednesday 15 May 2024 to give a lecture on the theme of "Surcouf, legendary sailor". Robert Surcouf, born in 1773, was a French privateer, shipowner and slave trader. At just 13, he left school and his parents allowed him to board a ship. He soon became a cadet and learned to navigate and command.

During his career, he alternated between the merchant navy and the Royal Navy. He was promoted to privateer captain at the age of twenty and commanded various ships. During his voyages, he fought several battles and gradually became a legend thanks to his victories and extraordinary catches. During his last years, he was less successful, but he had already made history and was rewarded by Napoleon in 1804. From 1809, he devoted himself to his profession as a shipowner. Before his death at the age of 53, he had become one of the most powerful and wealthiest shipowners in Saint-Malo and a major landowner.

A word about the historian

Michel Vergé-Franceschi is a French historian specialising in the history of the French navy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the history of Corsica. In the mid-1980s, he became a professor at the Université Savoie-Mont Blanc in Chambéry, before moving to the Université de Tours in 2000. He was also President of the Société française d'histoire maritime from 2000 to 2004.

He has written numerous books, several of which have been awarded literary prizes or by the Académie française, such as the book on the Corsican general and philosopher Paoli. In 2012, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Practical information
Wednesday 15 May 2024,, from 7pm to 8.30pm
Cité de l'Histoire
1 parvis de La Défense, 92800 Puteaux
From €5.99
To book your tickets

Cité de l'Histoire