Alain Messaoudi is a lecturer in contemporary history at the University of Nantes, a member of the Centre for Research in International and Atlantic History (CRHIA). His work focuses on exchanges between the Arab world and Europe since the 19th century, in terms of knowledge (Les arabisants et la France coloniale (1780-1930). Savants, interprètes, médiateurs, Lyon, ENS Éditions, 2015) and in the field of the imagination and visual culture.