Joseph Pérez

Biography

Joseph Pérez was born in Laroque-d'Olmes in the Ariège department, which is in the south of France near the Spanish border. His parents were Spaniards who emigrated from Bocairent in Valencia. In 1955, he was named a lecturer of Spanish by the Superior University of Saint-Cloud. He completed his doctoral thesis in 1970. His thesis studied the Revolt of the Comuneros, and remains one of the leading scholarly books on the topics.

Pérez became, and still is, a professor of Spanish and Latin American civilization at the University of Bordeaux 3. Pérez also served as a member of the Directorio del Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

Pérez has worked to spread French and Spanish culture in both directions. He founded the La Maison des Pays Iberiques, a center for Spanish culture in France, and between 1989 and 1996 Pérez directed the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, a French cultural institution funded by the French government dedicated to supporting interplay between France and Hispanic cultures.

Awards and honors

Pérez's doctoral thesis won the Saintour prize that year. He has served as honorary president of the University of Bordeaux 3.

Pérez is a corresponding member of the Real Academia de la Historia. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Valladolid. Other honors include being Order of Alfonso X the Wise, a Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, and a member of the French Legion of Honor.

On January 25, 2007 the board of the Municipality of Bocairent, voted unanimously to grant Pérez the title of "Adopted son of Bocairent." Bocairent was the birthplace of his parents and his three brothers. The ceremony celebrating the event was held on March 30, 2007 at the town hall.

Works

Aside from books, Pérez has also written numerous articles, especially in Bulletin Hispanique, such as his well-received notes and introduction to El caballero de Olmedo by Lope de Vega.