Laurent Joly

Laurent Joly is a CNRS Research Director at the Centre de Recherches Historiques (CRH) within the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris. His scholarly work focuses on the history of Vichy France, the Holocaust in France, and the French far right from the Dreyfus affair to Vichy.

Dr. Joly earned his doctorate in history from the University of Paris 1 in 2004 with a thesis on "Vichy and the General Commissariat for Jewish Questions (1941-1944)." He was recruited as a research fellow at the CNRS in 2006 and was authorized to direct research in January 2015 with a thesis on "Birth of the Action française. Maurice Barrès, Charles Maurras and the nationalist extreme right at the turn of the 20th century." Prior to joining CRH, he was affiliated with the Center for Research in Quantitative History (CRHQ-Caen) until January 1, 2015.

His research spans multiple interconnected areas of 20th century French history. He has made significant contributions to understanding the administrative machinery of Jewish persecution under Vichy, particularly focusing on the Parisian police's role in the Holocaust. His work examines denunciation practices during the Occupation, the French far right from the Dreyfus affair through Vichy, and the historiography of Vichy's anti-Jewish policies. Dr. Joly's current research focuses on the hunt for Jews in Paris between 1942 and 1944.

Dr. Joly has received numerous prestigious awards for his scholarship, including the Pierre Lafue History Book Prize (2023), François Mauriac Essay Prize (2022), and the 2021 World War II History Book Prize from the Ernest and Claire Heilbronn Foundation. His influential publications have reshaped understanding of Vichy's role in the Holocaust and the mechanisms of anti-Jewish persecution in France.

As an educator, Dr. Joly teaches on the social constructions of political categories for the 2024-2025 academic year. His scholarly work has been supported by various research grants, though specific details are not provided in the available text. He is actively involved in scholarly communities and has upcoming speaking engagements scheduled for 2025.

Dr. Joly is a member of the RHiSoP (Research Group in Social History of Politics) at CRH, where he contributes to interdisciplinary research on political history and social structures. His work bridges historical research with contemporary concerns about memory, antisemitism, and the mechanisms of state-sponsored persecution.