Émile Boutmy was a French political scientist and sociologist who was a native of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

He studied law in Paris, and from 1867 to 1870 gave lectures on the history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 and culture of civilizations pertaining to architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 at the École Spéciale d'Architecture

École Spéciale d'Architecture

The École Spéciale d'Architecture is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France.The school was founded in 1865 by engineer Emile Trélat as reaction against the educational monopoly of Beaux-Arts architecture...

. Shocked by the ignorance and disinterest regarding political issues during the Paris Commune

Paris Commune

The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...

, he founded in 1872 the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques

École Libre des Sciences Politiques

École Libre des Sciences Politiques , often referred to as the École des Sciences Politiques or simply Sciences Po was created in Paris in February 1872 by a group of European intellectuals, politicians and businessmen, which included Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel, Pierre Paul...

with important industrialists and academics that included Hippolyte Taine

Hippolyte Taine

Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was a French critic and historian. He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism, and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate...

, Ernest Renan

Ernest Renan

Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...

, Albert Sorel

Albert Sorel

Albert Sorel , was a French historian. He was born at Honfleur and remained throughout his life a lover of his native Normandy. His father, a rich manufacturer, wanted him to take over the business but his literary vocation prevailed. He went to live in Paris, where he studied law and, after a...

 and Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu

Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu

Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu was a French economist, brother of Henri Jean Baptiste Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu, born at Saumur, Maine-et-Loire on the 9th of December 1843, and educated in Paris at the Lycée Bonaparte and the École de Droit...

.

From 1873 to 1890, Boutmy gave classes on the constitutional history of England, France and the United States. In 1879 he was appointed to the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Today the main auditorium of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris

The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

(Sciences Po) is named in his honor.

Selected writings

• Philosophie de l'architecture en Grèce (Philosophy of Architecture in Greece), 1870
• Quelques Observations sur la réforme de l'enseignement supérieur (Some Observations on the Reform of Higher Education), 1876
• Etudes de droit constitutionnel (Studies of Constitutional Law), 1888
• Le recrutement des administrateurs coloniaux (The Recruitment of Colonial Administrators), 1895
• Essai d'une psychologie politique du peuple anglais au XIXe siècle (Essay on the Political Psychology of the People in 19th Century England), 1901
• Le Parthénon et le génie grec (The Parthenon and Greek Engineering), 1901
• Etudes politiques : La souveraineté du peuple, la Déclaration des droits de l'homme (Political Studies: The Sovereignty of the People, the Declaration of Human Rights), 1907
• Eléments d'une psychologie politique du peuple américain (Elements of the Political Psychology of the American People), 1911