Claude-Hélène Perrot

Claude-Hélène Perrot (; 13 September 1928 – 16 July 2019) was a French historian and Africanist who specialized in the history of Côte d'Ivoire. She served as a professor of contemporary African history at the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University from 1983 to 1993. Perrot's main areas of research concerned the history of the Akan of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana before colonization, mainly the Anyi and the Eotile; the use of oral tradition by historians; as well as relations between traditional African religions and political power. She was honored as Commander, Order of Ivory Merit.

Early life and education Claude-Hélène Perrot was born in Lembach on 13 September 1928 into a Franche-Comté family. She was the sister of François Perrot.

Perrot completed a degree in history and geography at the Sorbonne in 1950, and after obtaining further training, became a secondary education teacher in Cholet and Coulommiers,

Career

Perrot was affiliated with the School of Letters in Abidjan and Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, until 1971. in Paris. In 1973, she was appointed lecturer at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. In 1978, she defended a state thesis, entitled Les Anyi-Ndenyé et le pouvoir politique aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles ("The Anyi-Ndenyé and political power in the 18th and 19th centuries") at Paris Descartes University, and published under the same title in 1984. She belonged to the Comité de vigilance face aux usages publics de l'histoire.

Perrot died in Paris on 16 July 2019.

Awards Commander, Order of Ivory Merit (in French) Les Éotilé de Côte d'Ivoire aux XVIII & XIX. Pouvoir lignager et religion, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2008, coll. « Homme et société », p. 272, (in French)