Hélène d'Almeida-Topor (2 October 1932 – 1 August 2020) was a French historian and university professor of contemporary history.
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Biography
Her father, Abram Topor, was a French artist of Polish origin who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Her brother, Roland Topor, was also an artist and a writer. Earning an agrégation in history and geography in 1959, d'Almeida-Topor taught in Porto-Novo, Benin from 1960 to 1970. She also taught in Lomé, Togo for several years. Subsequently, she became a lecturer at Paris-Est Créteil University. In 1987, d'Almeida-Topor defended a thesis titled "Histoire économique du Dahomey (1890-1920)" at Paris-Sorbonne University under the supervision of Jean Ganiage. She was a professor at the University of Lorraine from 1988 to 1994 before working at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne until 2003, when she became professor emeritus. Her son, Fabrice d'Almeida, would also become a historian.
Hélène d'Almeida-Topor died on 1 August 2020 at the age of 87.
Publications
Les Amazones. Une armée de femmes dans l'Afrique précoloniale (1984)
Les Transports en Afrique xixe – xxe siècle (1992)
L'Afrique au xxe siècle (1993)
L'Europe et l'Afrique, un siècle d'échanges économiques (1994)
Histoire économique du Dahomey. 1890-1920 (1995)
Le travail en Afrique noire. Représentations et pratiques à l'époque contemporaine (2003)
Le Goût de l'étranger, les saveurs venues d'ailleurs depuis la fin du xviiie siècle (2006)
L'Afrique (2006)
L'Afrique du 20e siècle à nos jours (2013)
Distinction
President of the Société française d’histoire des outre-mers, Honorary President in 2011