Background
Héritier, Françoise was born on November 15, 1933 in Veauche, Loire, France. Daughter of Étienne and Marie-Antoinette (Bonnefoy) Héritier.
Héritier, Françoise was born on November 15, 1933 in Veauche, Loire, France. Daughter of Étienne and Marie-Antoinette (Bonnefoy) Héritier.
Licence in history, Sorbonne University, Paris, 1956. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), University Libre, Brussels, 1994. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), University Lausanne, Switzerland, 2000.
She is the successor of Claude Lévi-Strauss at the Collège de France (Chair of Comparative Studies of African Societies from 1982 to 1998, now emeritus professor). Her work deals mainly with the theory of alliances and on the prohibition of incest (both theories based on the notion of exchange of women). In addition to Lévi-Strauss, she was also influenced by Alfred Radcliffe-Brown.
She was replaced by Philippe Descola, who is the current holder of the chair of anthropology at the Collège.
In her book "Masculin/Feminin", she notes that the distinction between the feminine and the masculine is universal and that exists everywhere. And that the male is always considered superior to the women.
She called this concept "the differential valence of the sexes" (la valence différentielle des sexes) that she preferred to the concept of the masculine domination used by Pierre Bourdieu or Maurice Godelier.
President National Council Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, Paris, 1989-1995. Active High Council on Family and Population, Paris, 1986-1991, National Council on Ethics, Paris, 1998-2003. Head mission Minister National Education, Paris, 1988-1990.
Married Michel Izard (divorced 1970). 1 child, Catherine.