Question: How long was the book on Proust 's life by the Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature whose term ended 1991 ?

text: Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature
Professors

The position of Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford was founded in 1918 shortly after the end of the First World War. Ferdinand Foch, or Marshal Foch, was supreme commander of Allied forces from April 1918 onwards. The chair was endowed by an arms trader, Basil Zaharoff, in Foch's honour; he also endowed a post in English Literature at the University of Paris in honour of the British Field Marshal Earl Haig. Zaharoff wanted the University of Paris to have a right of veto over the appointment, but Oxford would not accept this. The compromise reached was that Paris should have a representative on the appointing committee (although this provision was later removed). In advance of the first election, Stéphen Pichon (the French Foreign Minister) unsuccessfully attempted to influence the decision. The first professor, Gustave Rudler, was appointed in 1920. As of 2015[update], the chair is held by Catriona Seth. The position is held in conjunction with a Fellowship of All Souls College.
Name Years Education Notes
Gustave Rudler 1920-49 University of Paris Rudler had previously taught at the Sorbonne and at Bedford College , London . He was particularly interested in the life and works of Benjamin Constant , the subject of his doctoral thesis as well as later publications . He also published editions of works by Jean Racine and Molière , and studied the historian Jules Michelet . Rudler was the co-founder and first editor of the French Quarterly , a periodical that ran from 1919 to 1932 which was the first English-language periodical to cover French literary matters . He was regarded at Oxford as a devoted teacher , lecturing entirely in French and asking questions of his audience that had to be answered in French
Jean Seznec 1950-72 École Normale Supérieure , Paris Seznec taught at the University of Cambridge and the French Institute in Florence before the Second World War , when he moved to America to be a professor at Harvard University
Jacques Scherer 1973-79 École Normale Supérieure , Paris , and Sorbonne University , Paris Scherer was previously Professor of French Literature at the University of Nancy and then at the Sorbonne . After leaving Oxford , he was a professor at University of Paris III : Sorbonne Nouvelle
Robert Shackleton 1979-86 Oriel College , Oxford Shackleton was Librarian of Brasenose College , Oxford from 1948 to 1966 and Bodley 's Librarian ( head of Oxford 's Bodleian Library ) from 1966 to 1979
Jean-Yves Tadié 1988-91 École Normale Supérieure , Paris Tadié lectured at universities in Caen , Tours and Paris ( University of Paris III : Sorbonne Nouvelle ) before serving as head of the French Department at Cairo University from 1972 to 1976 . He was director of the French Institute in London from 1976 to 1981 . His publications include a biography of Proust ( in French and English versions )
Malcolm Bowie 1992-2002 University of Edinburgh and University of Sussex Bowie taught at the University of Cambridge before becoming Professor of French Literature and Language at the University of London . After leaving Oxford , he was Master of Christ 's College , Cambridge ( the head of the college ) from 2002 to 2006
Michael Sheringham 2004-15 University of Kent Sheringham previously taught at the University of Kent ( where he was Professor of French Literature from 1992 to 1995 ) and at Royal Holloway , University of London ( where he was Professor of French from 1995 to 2004 )
Catriona Seth 2015 onwards University of Oxford ( Magdalen College ) and Université de Paris-Sorbonne Seth was a lecturer at the Université de Rouen before becoming Professor of 18th-century French Literature and Language at the Université de Lorraine