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The Library will be closed on the following days in May:
Wednesday 1 May – Fête du Travail (Labor Day)
Wednesday 8 May – Fête de la Victoire 1945 (WWII Victory Day)
Thursday 9 May – Jeudi de l’Ascension (Ascension)
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Evenings with an Author: Maurice Samuels [Virtual Public Event; RSVP Required]
Tue 8 December 2020 @ 19 h 30 - 20 h 30
*Covid-19 Update: This winter, the Library’s Evening with an Author series will continue to meet virtually, via Zoom. These events, which are free and open to the…
*Covid-19 Update: This winter, the Library’s Evening with an Author series will continue to meet virtually, via Zoom. These events, which are free and open to the public, require advance sign up. Evenings with an Author programs begin at 19h30 (Central European Time). Please check eLibris or our programs calendar for updates and line-up.
The Betrayal of the Duchess: The Scandal that Unmade the Bourbon Monarchy and Made France Modern
The year was 1832, a cholera pandemic raged, and the French royal family was in exile, driven out by yet another revolution. From a drafty Scottish castle, the duchesse de Berry — the mother of the eleven-year-old heir to the throne — hatched a plot to restore the Bourbon dynasty, but was betrayed by her trusted advisor, the son of France’s Chief Rabbi. The betrayal became a cause célèbre for Bourbon loyalists and ignited a firestorm of hate against France’s Jews. By blaming an entire people for the actions of a single man, the duchess’s supporters set the terms for the century of antisemitism that followed.
Dr. Maurice Samuels is the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French at Yale University, where he is also the founding director of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, he is the author of three previous books, including The Right to Difference: French Universalism and the Jews (University of Chicago Press, 2016). He lives in New Haven, CT and New York City.