“It is impossible to study our history without studying our companies.” – BNP Paribas

What does it mean to BNP Paribas to be one of the main partners of the International Congress on Business History in France?

Marie Laperdrix (M.L.) : As we did for the first congress in 2019, we wanted
to lend our support to this important gathering of international business
historians, as they are the core audience that come regularly to consult the
Group’s archives in France, Belgium and Italy. First of all, we took part in a
round-table discussion on “Culture and Remembrance”, which I chaired, with the
aim of preserving and promoting our heritage. This round table’s goal was to investigate
the role of archives – paper, oral, photographic or audiovisual – and to show
how they can be used to document the history of companies and countries,
including those who do not possess their own archives. Our second direct
participation dealt with sharing resources with partners and researchers, such
as economic historians, art historians, etc., who use our archives as an
additional source. This took the form of
a session on the history and archives of Eastern Europe between the two world
wars. This was a way to highlight the more obscure sources on which we work
with social science researchers, in particular from Ecole des hautes études in
sciences sociales (EHESS), with whom we have a partnership, and those associations
that make use of these archives. And, lastly, this type of congress gives us an
opportunity to assist researchers such as Anna Shapovalova, who need our
support.