French historian Jean-Pierre Azéma, a leading authority on the Second World War, the Vichy regime and the Resistance, died on 14 July in Paris at the age of 87, his daughter Ariane Azéma told Agence France-Presse. Born in Paris on 30 September 1937, Azéma published seminal works such as "La Collaboration" (1975), "Vichy" (1997) and "1940, l’année noire" (2010). He spent much of his career teaching at Sciences Po and contributed to the popular understanding of the period as consultant for the television series "Un village français" and Claude Chabrol’s documentary "L’Œil de Vichy". Azéma chaired the French government’s 2012 committee for the anniversaries of the two World Wars and was called as an expert witness by civil parties in the 1998 trial of former Vichy official Maurice Papon. Colleagues including historian Michel Winock hailed him as one of France’s foremost scholars of the era, noting the clarity and conviction that marked both his teaching and his extensive body of work.