Paul Vidal de la Blache

Paul Vidal de la Blache (Pézenas, 22 January 1845 - Tamaris, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of the modern French geography and also the founder of the French School of Geopolitics.

He founded the École française de géographie ("French School of Geography") and, together with Lucien Gallois, the "Annales de Géographie" (1893), of which he was the editor until his death.

He was influenced by German Geography ideas, particularly by positivism. Vidal de la Blache is regarded as the founder of the school of thought known as possibilism.

He held the belief that society will overcome the environment.

Works

He produced a large number of publications; including 17 books, 107 articles, and 240 reports and reviews [cite web | url = http://wwwstage.valpo.edu/geomet/histphil/test/vidal.html | title = Paul Vidal de la Blache - A biographical sketch by Jason Hilkovitch & Max Fulkerson" |accessdate = 2006-09-23] . Only some of these have been translated into English. His most influential works included an elementary textbook "Collection de Cartes Murales Accomppagnees de Notices" along with "Histoire et Geographie: Atlas General" and "La France de l'Est". Two of his best-known writings are "Tableau de la Geographie de la France (1903)" and "Principles of Human Geography (1918)".

References