Monica Charlot

Monica Charlot OBE née Monica Huber (31 May 1933 – 20 May 2005) was a historian and political scientist.

Life Monica Hubert was born at 6 Maitland Villas, Chalk Farm, in the St Pancras Borough, London, on 31 May 1933. Her father, Joseph, worked at the Swiss consulate. He and Doris May Hubert (née Fickling) had three children. Monica was brought up in England which was her mother's country whilst her father worked as the Swiss consul in Britain, New York and Australia. Monica attended Bedford College and studied French.

Whilst working as a language assistant in Paris she met her fiance. In 1956 her new husband was Jean Charlot who was a political scientist. After following her husband to Africa where he was serving his national service in Algeria, Monica Charlot decided to obtain French qualifications for her teaching skills. This route was possible as Charlot had Swiss, English and French citizenships and the latter was essential to take this qualification. Meanwhile, her husband Jean taught electoral politics at (Sciences Po).

From 1984 to 1991 she was in Oxford directing Maison française d'Oxford which is a French institution sitting in Oxford University targeting cultural exchange with Britain. She exploited the Oxford University environment to diversify the institutions approach. Charlot was well qualified for this role as she had previously served on a trans-national political body created by Edward Heath and Georges Pompidou.

She created the Centre de Recherches et d'Études en Civilisation Britannique, a single body to address the study of British civilisation in France. By the time she died in 2003 there were 250 people around France who were members. Moreover, there were over a hundred post doctorate students who had obtained their qualifications with Charlot as their supervisor.

Distinctions Officier de la Légion d'honneur Officière de la Légion d'honneur; Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite Officière de l'ordre national du Mérite; Officier de l'Ordre des Palmes académiques Officière de l'ordre des Palmes académiques and Officer of the British Empire (OBE)

Works She created fifteen books in her own right including several that became standard works. Her books included: La démocratie à l'anglaise, 1972 Le temps des incertitudes, 1981 L'Angleterre, cette inconnue: une société qui change, 1980 Victoria: le pouvoir partagé, 1989 (when partially translated it was called Victoria: the Young Queen).