Claire Zalc

Claire Zalc is a French historian and CNRS Research Director at the Institute of Modern and Contemporary History (IHMC). She teaches at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Born in 1971, she earned her agrégé in history in 1994 and defended her PhD in 2002 on 'Small foreign entrepreneurs in Paris between the two wars.' Her work focuses on immigration, persecution history, and quantitative methods. She led the IHMC from 2017–2020 and directs the ERC-funded Lubartworld project, studying transnational Jewish migrations and Holocaust impacts. Awards include the CNRS Bronze Medal (2013) and the Malesherbes Prize (2017). Her research combines microhistorical and quantitative approaches to explore persecution dynamics and migration.

Education: PhD in History (2002), HDR (2015). Key affiliations: IHMC (Director, 2017–2020), ENS, EHESS.

Her research interests emphasize the intersection of migration and persecution, particularly under Vichy France and the Holocaust. She employs quantitative methods and prosopography to analyze victim trajectories and administrative practices. Recent works include Denaturalized: How Thousands Lost Their Citizenship and Lives in Vichy France (2020) and Z: Memoirs of a Historian (2021).

Grants and projects: ERC Consolidator Grant (2018–2025), IHMC directorship. Advises PhD students like Gabrielle Escaich and Franciszek Zakrzewski. Active in academic networks, including the European Research Council and international conferences.

Labs/Teams: Lubartworld Project (transnational Jewish history), IHMC research teams, and collaborations with institutions like the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (2024–2025).