Le Bourhis Eric

Eric Le Bourhis is a Senior Lecturer in Latvian language, literature, and civilization at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris. He serves as head of the Latvian curriculum in the Europe department and as INALCO's anti-racism and anti-Semitism representative. As a member of the Centre de recherches Europes-Eurasie (CREE), he conducts research focused on urban history in the Soviet Union and Latvia, France, and Paris, employing a social history approach attentive to spatial dimensions and varying observational scales.

Le Bourhis's research centers on three major projects: housing construction and urban planning practices in Riga (1945-1990), the history of Jewish persecution under Nazi occupation through the 'Connus à cette adresse' collective (examining Riga and Paris from a housing perspective), and Soviet trials of local Nazi criminals in Soviet Latvia (1957-1974). His methodological approach emphasizes micro-history with intensive archival research, often conducted collaboratively to enable comparative analysis across different contexts. His work reveals how urban spaces functioned under authoritarian regimes, with particular attention to how ordinary people navigated systems of oppression.

Le Bourhis's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on the intersection of urban spaces, housing, and historical trauma, particularly during the Holocaust and Soviet era. His recent work increasingly employs comparative frameworks across geographical and political contexts to identify broader historical patterns. A significant portion of his scholarship examines how housing and urban planning served as tools of social engineering and control, while documenting resistance and adaptation by ordinary citizens.

• Académie d'Architecture, prix de la recherche, premier prix, 2017
• Société française d'histoire urbaine, prix de thèse, prix spécial, 2016

As an educator, Le Bourhis teaches undergraduate courses in Latvian grammar, Latvian culture and literature history, Baltic region history from the Middle Ages to Modern Era, and Estonian/Latvian history (19th-20th centuries). At the graduate level, he co-organizes research seminars on Baltic spaces at EHESS, the liberation of Paris, and Soviet Union history and historiography. His commitment to addressing contemporary social issues is reflected in his institutional role as anti-racism and anti-Semitism representative.

Le Bourhis actively participates in the 'Connus à cette adresse' research collective examining everyday Jewish persecution under Nazi occupation through housing perspectives. His institutional affiliation with CREE (Centre de recherches Europes-Eurasie) provides a framework for his interdisciplinary work bridging European and Eurasian studies, with particular focus on the Baltic region's complex historical relationship with both Western Europe and the former Soviet Union.