Jean-Claude Passeron: key obituary facts
Is Jean-Claude Passeron dead? Yes. Jean-Claude Passeron died on October 30, 2026, at age 95.
Cause of death: Jean-Claude Passeron's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Jean-Claude Passeron known for?
He was a French sociologist.
More about Jean-Claude Passeron
Born: 26 November 1930.
Place of birth: Nice.
Gender: male.
Occupation: sociologist, epistemologist, university teacher.
Nationality: France.
Education: École Normale Supérieure.
Employer: School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris 8 University, Nantes University.
Notable work: The craft of sociology, Les Héritiers, Reproduction in Education, Society, and Culture.
Jean-Claude Passeron, the French sociologist, died October 30, 2026, aged 95.
Born in Nice on November 26, 1930, he studied philosophy and sociology at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. During the 1960s, he and Pierre Bourdieu conducted two studies of the sociology of education.
Among Passeron’s notable works are Les Héritiers and Reproduction in Education, Society, and Culture, as well as The Craft of Sociology, which he wrote with Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Chamboredon. Published in French as Le Métier de sociologue, the latter became a reference work in the epistemology of the social sciences and dealt with cultural reproduction. Passeron led the sociology department at the University of Nantes, often traveling to Paris to direct studies. In 1968, he was part of the group that founded the Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes, an avant-garde pedagogical project that became Paris VIII University. He also led Enquêtes, a magazine produced by an interdisciplinary team of sociologists, historians and anthropologists. His employers included the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris 8 University and Nantes University.