Henry Rousso

Henry Rousso (born in 1954 in Cairo) is a contemporary French historian specializing in World War II France.

He studied at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud, the Sorbonne, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.

Rousso's notable work includes a seminal book on Vichy France entitled The Vichy Syndrome (1987) where he coined a phrase commonly used to describe the era, passé qui ne passe pas ("past that doesn't pass" - the expression was possibly inspired by Ernst Nolte's June 6, 1986 article entitled Die Vergangenheit, die nicht vergehen will — "The past that does not want to pass away").

Rousso currently serves as Director of Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) with which he has been involved since 1981.