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Élizabeth Teissier

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Élizabeth Teissier
Élizabeth Teissier en mai 2009.
BornGermaine Élizabeth Hanselmann
6 January 1938
Algiers, French Algeria
NationalityFrench
Occupation(s)Model
Actress
astrologer
Television presenter

Élizabeth Teissier, née Germaine Élizabeth Hanselmann (born 6 January 1938 in Algiers), is a French astrologer.

A former model and actress, she created in 1975-1976  French television's first daily horoscope on the channel Antenne 2. In 1981, she launched the Astro Show television programme in Germany.

Élizabeth Teissier has been the subject of several controversies, including her being awarded of a Doctorate in Sociology for a thesis that defended astrology, whose validity was hotly contested by the scientific community; the accuracy of her astrological predictions; and for her lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation (which she lost) in which it was claimed the French Misplaced Pages article about her damaged her reputation.

Biography

Early life

Born to a Swiss father and a French mother, she married André Teissier du Cros in 1960, and achieved a Masters in Modern Literature in 1963.

Career

Between 1964 and 1975, Elizabeth Teissier worked as a model for Coco Chanel, modelling agency Catherine Harlé, and Models International. Coco Chanel, the agency Catherine Harle, then with Models International, with notable photographs in ELLE, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

Between 1965 and 1975, she acted in a dozen films, including mainly soft erotic films, but also ones directed by  Sydney Pollack (Castle Keep, 1969), Marcel Carné, William Klein, Philippe de Broca and Yves Robert

In 1968 she became a student of the astrologer  Henri Joseph Gouchon on the advice of Federico Fellini. Afterwards, from 1975 to 2009, she had several astrological columns, presented astrology on television, and published pleas for astrology's recognition.

Evaluation of her predictions

Elizabeth Teissier writes regularly of her success rate of 80% or even 90% of her predictions. The Circle Zététique of Languedoc-Roussillon, via a test conducted at the University of Nice from April 2000 to January 2001, however, argued that her predictions and random predictions by a computer yielded identical results.

A team compared twenty-two forecasts made by Élizabeth Teissier for 2000 to twenty-two forecasts by a group using a common sense reasoning, and twenty-two forecasts made by using a computer to choose random dates. The target was a minimum of 16 successes for Teissier (73%).

Results:

  • Random choice : 8 successes
  • Teissier: 7 successes
  • Common sense : 7 successes.

The experiment concluded that there was no evidence of Élizabeth Teissier havingany particular gift, with common-sense predictions or even random chance having equivalent results.

Controversies

Sociology thesis

April 7, 2001, Elizabeth Teissier defended a theis a thesis entitled Situation épistémologique de l'astrologie à travers l'ambivalence fascination-rejet dans les sociétés postmodernes at the University of Paris Descartes under the supervision of  Michel Maffesoli and with the jury presided over by Serge Moscovici. The thesis opened with an apocryphal quote supposedly by Albert Einstein praising the merits of astrology. Subsequent research showed Einstein had never spoken on the subject.

The defense, the cancellation of which the astrophysicist  Jean Audouze had requested the day before, was punctuated by a sequence of applause after the introduction, but also proved anopportunity for part of the public attending the thesis (between 200 and 300 people according to witnesses) to show its first signs of protest. Sven Ortoli, editor-in-chief of the magazine Science et Vie Junior, stood up and declared "Je dois partir, mais c’est une farce à laquelle on assiste aujourd’hui. Le roi est nu." (I have to go, but what we are seeing today is a joke. The emperor is naked.) Others simply left while slamming the doors.

The award of a Doctorate in Sociology to Élizabeth Teissier after her defense caused considerable controversy in the scientific community and several sociologists challenged its legitimacy. .The award was heavily criticised by  French sociologists, including an article in  Le Monde on 17 April 2001 by Christian Baudelot and Roger Establet, as well as a 30 April petition addressed to the president of the University Paris Descartes signed by 300 sociologists. Many other critical reactions were published in the French press. though she had her defenders as well.

Outside of sociology, four French Nobel Prize winners (Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Jean-Marie Lehn, Jean Dausset et Pierre-Gilles de Gennes) protested the awarding of the doctorate to Jack Lang, then Minister of Education.

Scientific analysis of the thesis

The scientific, philosophical and sociological aspects of the thesis have been studied by a group of scientists from several disciplines,, including members of the Collège de France. It was analysed i detail by a group of astrophysicists (Jean-Claude Pecker, Jean Audouze, Denis Savoie), sociologists (Bernard Lahire, Philippe Cibois et Dominique Desjeux), a philosopher (Jacques Bouveresse) and specialists in pseudosciences (Henri Broch et Jean-Paul Krivine).

The analysis found it was not supported by sociology or astrophysics, and also failed on epistemological grounds. It concludes the work of Elizabeth Teissier does not meet the requirements of scientific rigor of a doctoral research, regardless of the discipline in question.

Lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation

In July 2015, she sued the Wikimedia Foundation, saying the article about her on the French Misplaced Pages damaged her reputation, and required her to have the right of response. She lost the original trial and appeal. In June 2016, The Court of Appeal in Paris dismissed the case, stating that the Wikimedia Foundation had a technical role of hosting provider, and was thus not involved in the content, and that, further the remarks about Teissier fell within the limits of free criticism..

References

  1. biographie d'André Teissier Du Cros, sur Éditions Harmattan.fr.
  2. ^ Thierry Ardisson, interview d'Élizabeth Teissier, émission Tout le monde en parle sur France 2, le .
  3. Template:En icon Filmographie d'Élizabeth Teissier sur iMDB.com.
  5. Cercle Zététique du Languedoc-Roussillon, Résultats du Match Teissier/CZLR sur l'année 2000, 2001.
  6. Cercle Zététique du Languedoc-Roussillon, Résultats du Match Teissier/CZLR sur l'année 2000, 2001.
  7. Cercle Zététique du Languedoc-Roussillon, Résultats du Match Teissier/CZLR sur l'année 2000, 2001.
  8. Jean-Paul Krivine, « Einstein et l’astrologie : une citation fausse qui a la vie dure », pseudo-sciences.org, décembre 2001.
  9. Charlotte Rotmann, Polémique universitaire autour de la thèse de sociologie d'Élizabeth Teissier, Libération, 9 avril 2001.
  10. Eric Hoogcarspel et Jan Willem Nienhuys, ET in the Sorbonne.
  11. Serge Paugam, La Pratique de la sociologie, Paris, PUF, 2008, p. 117 ; cf. également Gérald Houdeville, Le Métier de sociologue en France depuis 1945.
  12. Cf. Christian Baudelot, Roger Establet, La sociologie sous une mauvaise étoile, Le Monde, 18 avril 2001 ; copie sur le site homme-moderne.org.
  13. http://pagesperso-orange.fr/cibois/Texte.htm
  14. Cf. la liste des signatures et Daniel Filâtre, Affaire Teissier : historique, op. cit.
  15. Cf. par exemple Alain Bourdin, La sociologie, l'antithèse de Teissier, Libération, 19 avril 2001, et les articles reproduits dans la revue de presse de l'AFIS : partie 1, partie 2, partie 3, partie 4.
  16. Carte blanche : Astrologie, sociologie et média, Marcel Bolle de Bal, Le Soir, 20 septembre 2001
  17. Hervé Morin, La thèse d'Elizabeth Teissier ravive la fracture au sein de la sociologie, Le Monde, 4 mai 2001.
  18. Bernard Lahire, Philippe Cibois, Dominique Desjeux, Jean Audouze, Henri Broch, Jean-Paul Krivine, Jean-Claude Pecker et Jacques Bouveresse (6). Analyse de la thèse de Madame Elizabeth Teissier http://www.homme-moderne.org/societe/socio/teissier/analyse/. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |consulté le= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |titre= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ; cf. également, sur la page de Michel Maffesoli, Affaire autour de la thèse de l'astrologue Élizabeth Teissier.
  19. Cf. également l'analyse d'Henri Broch, 2001 ; Analyse de la thèse de Madame Elizabeth Teissier, 6 août 2001.
  20. . 6. Analyse de la thèse de Madame Elizabeth Teissier http://www.homme-moderne.org/societe/socio/teissier/analyse/. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |auteur= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |consulté le= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |titre= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)
  21. « L’astrologue Elizabeth Teissier perd son procès pour modifier Wikipédia », Thierry Noisette, Rue89.com, 21 juin 2016.
  22. . 21 juin 2016 http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2016/06/21/l-astrologue-elizabeth-teissier-deboutee-de-sa-plainte-contre-la-fondation-wikimedia_4955263_4408996.html. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |auteur= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |consulté le= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |titre= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)
  23. « Wikipédia : Elizabeth Tessier déboutée de sa plainte », Jérôme Ivanichtenko, Europe 1.fr, 22 juin 2016.

Liens externes

Sur la thèse de sociologie d'Élizabeth Teissier

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