The suicide of Dominique Venner in Notre Dame, shortly after writing a blog post calling for resistance against the law allowing gay marriage in France and leaving a note on the altar, presumably setting out his political justifications, has been reported as the suicide of a 'far right historian' (here). Let's be clear. Venner was not an historian. At least as far as I have been able to ascertain he had no formal academic qualification or accreditation in the discipline. He was a far right extremist with an interest in weaponry who wrote some populist books about history, to - shall we say - mixed reception.
Once again we see the phenomenon I have discussed before, where anyone with an interest in the past who manages to get a book published is allowed to style him/herself a historian.
Oh, and by the way, good riddance.
