I am a historian of the French-American alliance during the American Revolution.
Raised between the Netherlands and France, I studied history at the University of Amsterdam before moving to Paris, where I earned my Ph.D. in the History of International Relations from the University of Paris VIII in 2019. During my Ph.D., I taught history at the University of Paris VIII and Sciences Po.
Gibson Fellow, Karsh Institute University of Virginia
University of Paris VIII, 2019
Washington, D.C.
Mount Vernon, Monticello. American Philosophical Society. & 20+ more
Dr. Iris de Rode
In the garden of my childhood home in France stood an enormous tulip poplar that, according to local legend, had been brought back from America by the Marquis de Lafayette. Curious about whether the story could be true, I began researching Lafayette and the French officers who had fought in the American Revolution.
That curiosity eventually led me to François-Jean de Chastellux, a French general, Enlightenment thinker, and close friend of George Washington—and from there to the Château de Chastellux in Burgundy, where thousands of pages of private papers had remained untouched for centuries.
What began with a tree became the starting point of my career as a historian and a continuing search for the people, relationships, and forgotten stories that shaped the French-American alliance.
My work has taken me between archives, historic sites, universities, and cultural institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Over the course of my career, I have received more than twenty research fellowships and awards from institutions in the United States and Europe, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the American Philosophical Society, the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Campus France, and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
My first book, a biography of François-Jean de Chastellux published in 2022, was awarded the Prix Guizot of the Académie française, as well as honors from the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
In 2023, I moved from Paris to Washington, D.C. with my partner Andre Nakazawa, bringing me closer to many of the archives, historic sites, and institutions at the heart of my work. I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia.
I believe that historical research should reach beyond academic publications. Alongside my research and writing, I work with museums, filmmakers, historic sites, cultural institutions, and media organizations to bring the history of the American Revolution and the French-American alliance to wider audiences.
My work has taken me from archival collections and historic sites to television studios, documentary productions, exhibitions, public lectures, and international commemorations.
I am currently writing a new book in English about the inner workings of the French-American alliance during the American Revolution. Drawing on years of research and previously unpublished sources, the book tells the story of the people, relationships, and decisions behind the alliance that helped secure American independence and explores what their extraordinary collaboration can still teach us today.
