Foucault's lectures at the Collège de France

Jules Vuillemin suggested creating a new position at the Collège de France to fill the vacancy left by Jean Hyppolite's death. This new role, titled "The history of systems of thought," was established on November 30, 1969. Vuillemin then nominated Michel Foucault, who was then a relatively unknown figure outside of France, for the position. Foucault was elected on April 12, 1970 at the age of 44. As part of this role, he delivered public lectures from 1970 until his death in 1984 (excepting a sabbatical year in 1976–1977). The lectures were recorded and then edited by Michel Senellart to capture the key ideas. These edited summaries were then translated into English by Graham Burchell. Finally, after Foucault's death, St. Martin's Press published the translated and edited lectures.