François Dosse, a French historian, was born in Paris in a middle class family and from a very early age was interested in politics, becoming a Trotskyite when very young. He studied sociology and history at the Université de Vincennes - Paris VIII. After passing the Agrégation exam, he taught for various years in the lycées of Pontoise and Boulogne-Billancourt. He was Maître de conférences at the IUFM (Teacher Training Institute) in Versailles and Nanterre. In 2001 he passed the examination to direct research, writing a book on Michel de Certeau, which consolidated his orientation to the area of the theory of history and historiography. At the invitation of Henri Rousseau, he joined the IHTP, where he took part in various seminars concerned with the epistemology of studies about the present time. He published numerous works in this area, focusing specially on biographies of intellectuals such as Paul Ricoeur and Pierre Nora. Currently he is a professor in the Créteil IUFM.