The University of Bordeaux (French: Université de Bordeaux, pronounced [ynivɛʁsite də bɔʁdo]) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are also several smaller teaching sites in various other towns in the region, including in Bayonne.
The University of Bordeaux counts more than 50,000 students, over 6,000 of which are international. Alumni include three Nobel Prize winners, two members of France's National Assembly, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and a King of Morocco. It is a member of the ComUE d'Aquitaine university group.
Contents
History
The original Université de Bordeaux was established by Pope Eugene IV on 7 June 1441 when Bordeaux was an English town. In 1793, during the French Revolution, the National Convention abolished the university. The university re-opened in 1896 as a result of the law of 18 July 1896. In 1970, the university was split into three universities: Bordeaux I, Bordeaux II, and Bordeaux III. In 1995, Bordeaux IV split off from Bordeaux I. Since 2014, the aforementioned universities have been reunited to form the University of Bordeaux, except for Bordeaux III, which did not take part in the merger and remains independent of the University of Bordeaux.
Academics
As of the 2025 school year, the university is organized into four colleges:
Law, political science, economics, and management
Health sciences
Humanities
Sciences & technology
Additionally, the university has four constituent institutes, which are the:
Institute of Technology (IUT)
Institute of Business Administration (IAE)
Science Institute of Vine and Wine (ISVV)
National Higher Institute for Teaching and Education (INSPE)
The University of Bordeaux has a strong reputation for studies in psychology, ranking fourth in France in Le Figaro's 2023 ranking.
Campuses
Unlike most North American universities, most French universities do not have one central campus. The University of Bordeaux has seven facilities within the environs of Bordeaux, and 22 sites across the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
The University's Peixotto, Bordes, and Montagne-Montesquieu campuses form a continuous university area south of the city center, in the areas of Talence and Pessac. These house the University's science and technology faculty, as well as parts of the college of law, political science, economics and management. Parts of Bordeaux Montaigne University are also on this campus.
The University's law department also has a site at Place Pey Berland , in close proximity to the Bordeaux Cathedral, the Bordeaux courthouse, and the École nationale de la magistrature, the French national judiciary school.
The Bastide campus is located on the right bank of the Garonne river, opposite the city center, and houses the University's Institut d'administration des entreprises, or business school, IAE Bordeaux, as well as some of the University's Institut universitaire de technologie, IUT de Bordeaux, programs related to accounting and management.
The University's Victoire campus is located on Place de la Victoire , at the end of Rue Saint-Catherine . Part of the building was designed as a monument historique in 2016. The Victoire campus contains the faculties of anthropology, sociology, education, and psychology.
In 1915, French actress Sarah Bernhardt had her leg amputated at the nearby Hôpital Saint-Augustin; the amputated leg was reportedly kept in the medical faculty at the Victoire campus until the faculty was moved in 1977.
Demography
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Notable alumni
Academia
Geoffrey Keating (c. 1569–c. 1644), Irish historian
Léon Duguit (1859–1928), French scholar of public law
Henri Moysset (1875–1949), French historian and politician
Jacques Ellul (1912–1994), French philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, and professor
James Joll (1918–1994), British historian and university lecturer
Julio Cotler (1932–2019), Peruvian anthropologist and sociologist
Théophile Obenga (b. 1936), Congolese Egyptologist
Spencer C. Tucker (b. 1937), American military historian
Charles Butterworth (b. 1938), American political philosopher
Helene Hagan (b. 1939), Moroccan–American anthropologist and Amazigh activist
Pascal Salin (b. 1939), French economist and professor
Marie-France Vignéras (b. 1946), French mathematician
Alfredo Co (b. 1949), Filipino Sinologist
Idowu Bantale Omole (b. 1954), Nigerian professor and academic administrator
Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah (1928–2017), Algerian linguist
Roger Naslain (b. 1936), professor of chemical and physical science at the University of Bordeaux
Activism
Aubrey Willis Williams (1890–1965), American social and civil rights activist
Jean-Claude Bajeux (1931–2011), Haitian political activist and professor
Louis Clayton Jones (1935–2006), African-American international attorney and civil rights leader
Business
Mireille Gillings (b. 1971), French Canadian neurobiologist and entrepreneur
Olivier Le Peuch (b. 1963/1964), French businessman, CEO of Schlumberger
Law
Thomas Barclay (c. 1570–1632), Scottish jurist and professor
Montesquieu (1689–1755), legal philosopher and political theorist
Ba Maw (1893–1977), Burmese politician
James Marshall Sprouse (1923–2004), United States Circuit judge
Literature and journalism
François Mauriac (1885–1970) French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, journalist and Nobel laureate (1952)
Saint-John Perse (1887–1975), French poet and diplomat, Nobel laureate (1960)
Lucien Xavier Michel-Andrianarahinjaka (1929–1997), Malagasy writer, poet and politician
Annie Ernaux (b. 1940), Nobel laureate (2022) French writer and professor of literature
Esther Seligson (1941–2010), Mexican writer, poet, translator, and historian
Lee Mallory (b. 1946), American poet, editor and academic
Marc Saikali (b. 1965), Lebanese–French journalist
Sarah Ladipo Manyika (b. 1969), British Nigerian writer
Performing arts
Luc Plissonneau (b. 1961), French screenwriter and film director
Morteza Heidari (b. 1968), Iranian TV presenter
Koffi Olomide (b. 1956), Congolese singer-songwriter
Politics
Hassan II (1929–1999), King of Morocco
Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac (1778–1832), French statesman
Jean Ybarnégaray (1883–1956), Basque–French politician
Michel Buillard (1950), mayor of Papeete, French Polynesia
Jean-Fernand Audeguil (1887–1956), French politician
Ba Maw (1893–1977), Head of State of Burma
Michel Kafando (b. 1942), Burkinabé diplomat
Xavier Darcos (b. 1947), French politician, scholar, civil servant and former Minister of Labour
Jean-Paul Gonzalez (b. 1947), French virologist
Mario Aoun (b. 1951), Lebanese politician
Alain Vidalies (b. 1951), the French Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries
Nagoum Yamassoum (b. 1954), Chadian politician and former Prime Minister of Chad
Anicet-Georges Dologuélé (b. 1957), Central African politician
Reza Taghipour (b. 1957), Iranian conservative politician
Thierry Santa (b. 1967), French Polynesian politician in New Caledonia
Germaine Kouméalo Anaté (b. 1968), Togolese government minister, scholar and writer
Sciences
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), French physician, politician and freemason and namesake of the guillotine
Célestin Sieur (1860–1955), French physician
Charles-Joseph Marie Pitard (1873–1927), French pharmacist and botanist
Pierre-Paul Grassé (1895–1985), French zoologist
Laure Gatet (1913–1943), French pharmacist, biochemist and spy
Basile Adjou Moumouni (1922–2019), Beninese physician
Roland Paskoff (1933–2005), French geologist
Jean-Marie Tarascon (b. 1953), French chemist and professor
Bruno Vallespir (b. 1960), French engineer and professor
Sports
Jean-Pierre Escalettes (b. 1935), French retired footballer
Karounga Keïta (1941–2023), Malian football official and former coach and player
Bixente Lizarazu (b. 1969), Basque–French retired footballer
Visual arts
Charles James (1906–1978), English-American fashion designer
Winemaking
Emma Gao
Émile Peynaud (1912–2004), French oenologist