Le Normand’s interest in the French Revolution was sparked by the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution, a worldwide celebration marking the fall of the Bastille to French Revolutionaries in 1789.

“I got fired up about it,” Le Normand said.  “I bought everything I could find about it.”

The entire bottom shelf of Le Normand’s book case in her office is dedicated to her books on the French Revolution.

Le Normand’s grandfather gave her a plane ticket to France for her 12th birthday, where she stayed with her aunt.

“I found [the French Revolution] very romantic,” Le Normand said.

As a young adult, Le Normand was fascinated with two French Revolutionary figures, Camille Desmoulins and Louis Autoine de Saint-Just.

“Desmoulins was a journalist who was instrumental in getting the French Revolution started,” Le Normand said.

Desmoulins was eventually executed for his views.   Louis Autoine was the complete opposite of Desmoulins.

“Louis was called the archangel of the Terror,” Le Normand said. “He was quite young.  He wanted to drown in the blood of the traitors.”

Le Normand was born in Montreal, Quebec, but she has lived in many places around the world, such as Germany, Hungary and Italy.

Le Normand has learned many foreign languages through her travels and studies.

She learned Serbo-Croatian through immersion in Zagreb, Croatia.  She also knows Italian, German and French.

Le Normand has many hobbies including swimming, yoga and swing dancing.

“I try to be physically active since I already exercise my brain a lot,” Le Normand said.

Swing dancing is a form of dancing from the 1930s, influenced by jazz.

By BRADLEY COOPER

Staff

bradcoop@ius.edu