françois joseph charles simiand (18 april 1873 – 13 april 1935) was a french sociologist and economist best known as a participant in the année sociologique. as a member of the french historical school of economics, simiand predicated a rigorous factual and statistical basis for theoretical models and policies. his contribution to french social science was recognized in 1931 when, at the age of 58, he was elected to the faculty of the collège de france and accepted the chair in labor history.