Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
learned society
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
devoted to the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
.
History
The Académie originated as a council of five humanists, "scholars who were the most versed in the knowledge of history and antiquity": Jean ChapelainJean Chapelain
Jean Chapelain was a French poet and writer.-Biography:Chapelain was born in Paris. His father wanted him to become a notary; but his mother, who had known Pierre de Ronsard, had decided otherwise...
, François Charpentier
François Charpentier
François Charpentier was a French archaeologist and man of letters.-Biography:Charpentier was born in Paris, and intended for the bar, but was employed by Colbert, who had determined on the foundation of a French East India Company, to draw up an explanatory account of the project for Louis...
, Jacques Cassagne
Jacques Cassagne
Jacques Cassagne or Jacques de Cassaigne was a French clergyman, poet and moralist.-Life:A doctor of theology, he was 'garde' of the king's library and entered the Académie française aged 29...
, Amable de Bourzeys
Amable de Bourzeys
Amable de Bourzeis was a French churchman, writer, hellenist, and Academician.A founding member of the Académie française, in 1663 Jean-Baptiste Colbert also made him one of the five founding members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres....
, and a M. Douvrier.. The organizer was King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
's finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
. Its first name was the Académie royale des Inscriptions et Médailles, and its mission was to compose or obtain Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscriptions to be written on public monuments and medals issued to celebrate the events of Louis' reign.
In 1683 Minister Louvois increased the membership to eight.. In 1701 its membership was expanded to 40 and reorganized under the leadership of Chancellor Pontchartrain
Jérôme Phélypeaux
Jérôme Phélypeaux , comte de Pontchartrain, was a French politician, son of Louis Phélypeaux.He served as a councillor to the parlement of Paris from 1692, and served with his father as Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi and Navy Minster from 1699 onwards...
. It met twice a week at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, its members began to receive significant pensions, and was made an official state institution on the king's decree. In January 1716 it was permanently renamed to the Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres with the broader goal of elevating the prestige of the French monarchy using physical symbols uncovered or recovered through the methods of classical erudition.
Role
In the words of the Académie's charter, it is:
primarily concerned with the study of the monuments, the documents, the languages, and the cultures of the civilizations of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the classical period, as well as those of non-European civilizations.
Today the academy is composed of fifty-five French members, forty associate foreign members, fifty French corresponding members, and fifty foreign corresponding members. The seats are distributed evenly among "orientalists" (scholars of Asia and the Islamic world, from ancient times), "antiquists" (scholars of Greece, Rome, and Gaul, including archaeologists, numismatists, philologists and historians), "medievalists", and a fourth miscellaneous group of linguists, law historians, historians of religion, historians of thought, and prehistorians.
The Volney Prize
Volney prize
The Prix Volney is awarded by the Institute of France after proposition by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres to a work of comparative philology....
is awarded by the Institut de France, based on the proposal of the Académie. It publishes Mémoires.
Prominent members
- For a list of the Academy's members past and present, see :Category:Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
- Jean Sylvain Bailly
- Anatole Jean-Baptiste Antoine de BarthélemyAnatole Jean-Baptiste Antoine de BarthélemyAnatole Jean-Baptiste Antoine de Barthélemy was a French archaeologist and numismatist.He was born at Reims in 1821, and died at Ville d'Avray in 1904.In collaboration with J...
- Charles BatteuxCharles BatteuxCharles Batteux was a French philosopher and writer on aesthetics.Batteux was born in Alland'Huy-et-Sausseuil, Ardennes, and studied theology at Reims. In 1739 he came to Paris, and after teaching in the colleges of Lisieux and Navarre, was appointed to the chair of Greek and Roman philosophy in...
- Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de BlacasPierre Louis Jean Casimir de BlacasPierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, first comte, then duc, and finally prince de Blacas d'Aulps was a French antiquarian, nobleman and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration.-Youth:He was baptized at Avignon on 11 January 1771...
- Michel BréalMichel Bréal"Breal" redirects here. For the Rapper see B-RealMichel Jules Alfred Bréal , French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics....
- Antoine Leonard de ChézyAntoine Leonard de ChézyAntoine-Léonard de Chézy was a French orientalist.He was born at Neuilly. His father, Antoine de Chézy , was an engineer who finally became director of the École des Ponts et Chaussées. The son was intended for his father's profession; but in 1799 he obtained a post in the oriental department of...
- Charles Simon Clermont-GanneauCharles Simon Clermont-GanneauCharles Simon Clermont-Ganneau was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist.-Biography:Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, son of a sculptor of some repute...
- Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
- Henri CordierHenri CordierHenri Cordier was a French linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, editor and Orientalist. He was President of the Société de Géographie in Paris.-Early life:...
- André DacierAndré DacierAndré Dacier , Latin Andreas Dacerius, was a French classical scholar and editor of texts. He began his career with an edition and commentary of Festus' De verborum significatione, and was the first to produce a "readable" text of the 20-book work.- Biography:Dacier was born at Castres in upper...
- Léopold DelisleLéopold Victor DelisleLéopold Victor Delisle , French bibliophile and historian, was born at Valognes .-Early life:He was taken on as a young man by the antiquarian and historian of architecture, Charles-Alexis-Adrien Duhérissier de Gerville, who engaged him to copy manuscripts in his collection, and taught him enough...
- Jean Denis, comte LanjuinaisJean Denis, comte LanjuinaisJean Denis, comte Lanjuinais was a French politician, lawyer, jurist, journalist, and historian.-Early career:...
- Louis DuchesneLouis DuchesneLouis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
- Émile EggerÉmile EggerÉmile Egger was a French scholar who was born in Paris.From 1840 to 1855, Egger was assistant professor, and from 1855 until his death he was professor of Greek literature in the Faculté des Lettres at Paris University...
- André FélibienAndré FélibienAndré Félibien , sieur des Avaux et de Javercy, was a French chronicler of the arts and official court historian to Louis XIV of France.-Biography:...
- Jean François Boissonade de FontarabieJean François Boissonade de FontarabieJean François Boissonade de Fontarabie was a French classical scholar.He was born at Paris. In 1792 he entered the public service during the administration of General Dumouriez. Driven out in 1795, he was restored by Lucien Bonaparte, during whose time of office he served as secretary to the...
- Nicolas FréretNicolas FréretNicolas Fréret was a French scholar.-Life:He was born at Paris on 15 February 1688. His father was procureur to the parlement of Paris, and destined him to the profession of the law. His first tutors were the historian Charles Rollin and Father Desmolets...
- Bernard le Bovier de FontenelleBernard le Bovier de FontenelleBernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle , also called Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, was a French author.Fontenelle was born in Rouen, France and died in Paris just one month before his 100th birthday. His mother was the sister of great French dramatists Pierre and Thomas Corneille...
- Étienne FourmontÉtienne FourmontÉtienne Fourmont was a French orientalist.Born at Herblay near Argenteuil, he studied at the Collège Mazarin in Paris and afterwards in the Collège Montaigu where his attention was attracted to Oriental languages....
- Antoine GallandAntoine GallandAntoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights...
- Pierre Amédée JaubertPierre Amédée JaubertPierre Amédée Emilien Probe Jaubert was a French diplomat, academic, orientalist, translator, politician, and traveler. He was Napoleon's "favourite orientalist adviser and dragoman".-Biography:...
- Stanislas JulienStanislas JulienStanislas Aignan Julien was a French sinologist.-Biography:Born at Orléans, he studied the classics at the Collège de France, and in 1821 was appointed assistant professor of Greek. In the same year he published an edition of The Rape of Helen of Coluthus, with versions in French, Latin, English,...
- Alexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'HauteriveAlexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'HauteriveAlexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'Hauterive , French statesman and diplomatist, was born at Aspres on the 14th of April 1754, and was educated at Grenoble, where he became a professor...
- Pierre Henri LarcherPierre Henri LarcherPierre Henri Larcher was a French classical scholar and archaeologist.Born at Dijon, and originally intended for the law, he abandoned it for the classics. His translation of Chariton's Callirhoe marked him as an excellent Greek scholar...
- Jean LebeufJean LebeufJean Lebeuf was a French historian.He was born at Auxerre, where his father, a councillor in the parlement, was receveur des consignations. He began his studies in his native town, and continued them in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe. He soon became known as one of the most cultivated minds of...
- Charles-François Lebrun, duc de PlaisanceCharles-François Lebrun, duc de PlaisanceCharles-François Lebrun, 1st Duke of Plaisance, prince of the Empire was a French statesman.-Ancien Régime:...
- Jean LeclantJean LeclantJean Leclant was a renowned Egyptologist who was an Honorary Professor at the College of France, Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Inscriptions and Letters of the Institut de France, and Honorary Secretary of the ....
- Émile LittréÉmile LittréÉmile Maximilien Paul Littré was a French lexicographer and philosopher, best known for his Dictionnaire de la langue française, commonly called "The Littré".-Biography:Émile Littré was born in Paris...
- Jean MabillonJean MabillonJean Mabillon was a French Benedictine monk and scholar, considered the founder of palaeography and diplomatics.-Early career:...
- Louis Ferdinand Alfred MauryLouis Ferdinand Alfred MauryLouis Ferdinand Alfred Maury , was a French scholar, born at Meaux.In 1836, having completed his education, he entered the Bibliothèque Nationale, and afterwards the Bibliothèque de l'Institut , where he devoted himself to the study of archaeology, ancient and modern languages, medicine and...
- Joachim MenantJoachim MenantJoachim Menant was a French magistrate and orientalist.He was born at Cherbourg. He studied law and became vice-president of the civil tribunal of Rouen in 1878, and a member of the appeals court three years later...
- Franc MiklošičFranc MiklošicFran Miklošič , was a Slovene philologist.-Biography:Miklošič was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town of Ljutomer, then part of the Austrian Empire....
- Jean Marie PardessusJean Marie PardessusJean Marie Pardessus , was a French lawyer.He was born at Blois, and educated by the Oratorians, then studied law, at first under his father, a lawyer at the Presidial, who was a pupil of Robert Joseph Pothier. In 1796, after the Reign of Terror, Pardessus married, but his wife died after three years...
- Alexis Paulin ParisAlexis Paulin ParisAlexis Paulin Paris , was a French scholar and author.He was born at Avenay . He studied classics in Reims and law in Paris. He published in 1824 an Apologie pour l'école romantique and took an active part in Parisian journalism...
- Claude-Emmanuel de PastoretClaude-Emmanuel de PastoretClaude-Emmanuel Joseph Pierre, marquis de Pastoret was a French author and politician.Pastoret was elected member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres on the strength of his "Zoroastre, Confucius et Mahomet comparés comme sectaires, legislateurs et moralistes". He was Venerable...
- Armand-Pierre Caussin de PercevalArmand-Pierre Caussin de PercevalArmand-Pierre Caussin de Perceval was a French orientalist.He was born in Paris on 13 January 1795. His father, Jean Jacques Antoine Caussin de Perceval , was professor of Arabic in the Collège de France....
- Charles PerraultCharles PerraultCharles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
- Francois PouquevilleFrancois PouquevilleFrançois Charles Hugues Laurent Pouqueville was a French diplomat, writer, explorer, physician and historian, member of the ....
- Louis RacineLouis RacineLouis Racine was a French poet.The second son of the dramatist Jean Racine, he was born in Paris. Interested in poetry from childhood, he had been dissuaded from trying to make it his career by Boileau on the grounds that the gift never existed in two successive generations...
- Charles-Frédéric ReinhardCharles-Frédéric ReinhardCharles-Frédéric, comte Reinhard was a Württembergian-born French diplomat, essayist, and politician who briefly served as the Consulate's Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1799...
- Jacques Nicolas Augustin ThierryJacques Nicolas Augustin ThierryAugustin Thierry was a French historian.He was born in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, the elder brother of Amédée Simon Dominique Thierry. He had no advantages of birth or fortune, but was distinguished at the Blois Grammar School, and entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1811...
- Jacques de TourreilJacques de TourreilJacques de Tourreil was a French jurist, orator, translator and man of letters.-Life:The author of translations of Demosthenes and essays on jurisprudence, Tourreil was elected to the Académie royale des inscriptions et médailles in 1691, the Académie française in 1692 and the Académie des Jeux...
- Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de LauneAnne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de LauneAnne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune , often referred to as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Turgot was a student of Francois Quesnay and as such belonged to the Physiocratic school of economic thought...
- Joseph VendryesJoseph VendryesJoseph Vendryes was a French-Celtic linguist. After studying with Antoine Meillet, he was chairman of Celtic languages and literature at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He founded the journal Études Celtiques...
- William Henry WaddingtonWilliam Henry WaddingtonWilliam Henry Waddington was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France in 1879.-Early life and education:...
- Charles Athanase WalckenaerCharles Athanase WalckenaerBaron Charles Athanase Walckenaer was a French civil servant and scientist.-Biography:Walckenaer was born in Paris and studied at the universities of Oxford and Glasgow. In 1793 he was appointed head of the military transports in the Pyrenees, after which he pursued technical studies at the École...
- Henri WallonHenri WallonHenri-Alexandre Wallon was a French historian and statesman whose decisive contribution to the creation of the Third Republic led him to be called the "Father of the Republic"...