Yvette Barbaza

Yvette Barbaza (29 March 1914 – 26 August 2009), was a French geographer, professor of geography and researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Yvette Barbaza devoted the later years of her career to the study of the Spanish Mediterranean coast called Costa Brava.

Biography Yvette Lucienne Marie Azéma was born on 29 March 1914 in Cazouls-lès-Béziers. She studied at the Béziers boarding school, at the École Normale, to become a teacher. She completed her higher education at the faculty of Montpellier (1934–1938) where she began to take an interest in geography. During the German occupation, Professor Jules Sion suggested that she study the Costa Brava. From then on, she explored her new passion: studying the beauty of the landscapes of the Catalan coasts of Empordà and Selva, Spain and the threats posed by the increase in tourists to the region. The first part of her book, "The environment and the people" was devoted to the description of the three aspects of her subject. The first aspect discussed the Pyrenean sector made up of a rocky coast, the marshy Empordà sector, and the southern sector with sheltered bays. The second aspect, "The development of lifestyles and human landscapes" was organized chronologically, from ancient times to the present day. The third aspect "Lifestyles and human landscapes disrupted by tourism" returned to the development of tourism and industry, to the detriment of local crafts, fishing and agriculture, saying that the resulting crisis would cause a mass exodus to larger cities, especially Barcelona.

Professor After obtaining her doctorate, she taught at the University of Lille and then at the University of Paris VII, in Vincennes.

Yvette Barbaza died on 26 August 2009 in Villejuif, France.