My friend and colleague Margaret Atack, who has died of cancer aged 75, was known predominantly for her work on French literature of and about the second world war. She was as interested in popular detective fiction set in this period as she was in the existentialist philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and brought to all of her writing an encyclopaedic knowledge of theory across several disciplines, as well as a strong commitment to feminism.
Margaret’s first book – influential and much cited – was Literature and the French Resistance: Cultural Politics and Narrative Forms 1940-1950 (1989). This was followed by May 68 in French Fiction and Film: Rethinking Representation, Rethinking Society (1991). Her most recent publication was Jean-François Vilar: Theatres of Crime, (2020), about the French political crime writer.
She was also a highly effective academic leader, her career spent predominantly at Leeds University, as professor and head of department of French from 1993, rising to dean of the faculty of arts (2003-06) then pro-vice-chancellor for research (2006 to 2009).
Born in Leicester, Margaret was the first child of Kathleen (nee Draper), a typist, and Wilfrid Atack, a merchandise manager for Lewis’s department store in the city. The family moved around as Wilfrid’s career took him to different branches of the store, settling in Liverpool in the late 1960s. Family life was happy until the death of Kathleen when Margaret was 11, after which she attended a Catholic boarding school, St Mary’s, near Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Though Margaret soon left behind Catholicism, she retained close friendships from her schooldays, as from her student years at University College London, where she gained a first-class degree in French in 1971. She stayed at UCL for her PhD then as a French lecturer until 1977. After lectureship posts at Southampton and Cardiff universities, she obtained her first permanent position at Leeds in 1979.
From 1989 she spent four years as head of humanities, then social and international studies, at Sunderland Polytechnic (now Sunderland University), before returning to Leeds.
A warm-hearted, loyal and always delightful friend and colleague, Margaret went part-time in 2016 to focus on her research and writing.
She served twice on Research Assessment Exercise /Research Excellence Framework panels, once as chair, and on many panels for senior academic appointments and grant awards.
After retiring fully in 2022 Margaret was able to spend more time enjoying her family and her garden, her love of opera (going frequently to Opera North in Leeds), meeting up with friends, and pursuing her many interests, particularly in all things French.
Margaret met her partner, the translator and intellectual historian David Macey, when they were both students, and they adopted three children.
David died in 2011. She is survived by her children, Aaron, John and Chantelle, her six grandchildren, and her brother, Michael.
