Portrait of Bruno Latour

Birthday profile

Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour, French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist (died 2022)

Born
June 22, 1947
Died
October 8, 2022
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1947

About Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour (; French: [latuʁ]; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He was especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation of the École des Mines de Paris from 1982 to 2006, he became a professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). He was best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and redeveloping the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon, Madeleine Akrich, and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam agrégation/CAPES de philosophie. After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris from 1982 to 2006, he became a professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Bruno Latour timeline

  1. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam agrégation/CAPES de philosophie.
  2. After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris from 1982 to 2006, he became a professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab.
  3. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987).

The world when Bruno Latour was born

Bruno Latour was born in 1947. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1947

  • #1 song"Near You" – Francis Craig
  • Top movieMiracle on 34th Street
  • Top TV showHowdy Doody
  • Best-selling bookThe Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier
  • Top headlineJackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color barrier
  • Technology milestoneTransistor invented at Bell Labs
  • Defining fadFlying saucer mania
  • Notable inventionPolaroid instant camera
  • World population2.47 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia Warriors (BAA)
  • U.S. population144.1M

1947 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Bruno Latour's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19472026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$7,800$435,000
Average income$4,700$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.40$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population144.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.