Germain Marc'hadour
Encyclopedia
Germain Marc'hadour was a professor of English at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest
(Angers
, France
), an internationally recognized authority on the life and work of Thomas More
and founder of the journal Moreana
.
, Brittany
, the son of shopkeepers, and grew up bilingual in French
and Breton
. He studied English at the Université Catholique in Angers, and was ordained priest on 18 June 1944. After graduating from the Université Catholique he spent short periods of study at the University of Lyon and at University College, London, before beginning to teach in the English department at Angers in 1954. From 1959 he was associated with the Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More
, a project based at Yale University
.
On 1 July 1960 he attended the first night of A Man for All Seasons
in London, publishing his first article about the play.
A Fulbright grant
enable Marc'hadour to spend fifteen months at Yale in 1960-1961, where he worked on the edition of the Supplication of Souls and consulted More holdings in Washington, San Marino, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto. He returned to North America on a number of occasions throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s as a researcher and as a lecturer, with stints at the Catholic University of America, Sherbrooke University, the University of Georgia
, Auburn University
and Rhode Island University.
On 29 December 1962 the international Association Amici Thomae Mori was founded in Brussels, Marc'hadour becoming the International Secretary in September 1963 and founding the journal Moreana.
In 1969 Marc'hadour obtained his doctorate from the Paris-Sorbonne University, with a dissertation on "Thomas More and the Bible". On the fourth centenary of More's birth, in 1977, he was invited to lecture at events in many different countries and on French television. He contributed the article on Thomas More to the fifteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica
On 18 May 1988 he was created a knight of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.
In 1989 a Festschrift
was published in his honour, Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, edited by Clare M. Murphy and Henri Gibaud (Medieval and Renaissance texts and studies 61).
Université Catholique de l'Ouest
The Catholic University of the West is a university located in Angers, France.- History :Early in the 11th century this school became famous under the direction of Marbodus, later Bishop of Rennes, and of Ulger, later Bishop of Angers, both pupils of the renowned canonist, Fulbert de Chartres...
(Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, France
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...
), an internationally recognized authority on the life and work of Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
and founder of the journal Moreana
Moreana
Moreana is a quarterly academic journal dedicated to publishing contributions to the study of the life, times, and writings of Thomas More. It began publication in September 1963 as the journal of the Association Amici Thomae Mori, founded in Brussels the previous year, and was based at the...
.
Life and career
Marc'hadour was born in LangonnetLangonnet
Langonnet is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Langonnet are called in French Langonnetais, in Breton Langonediz.-Breton language:...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, the son of shopkeepers, and grew up bilingual in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
. He studied English at the Université Catholique in Angers, and was ordained priest on 18 June 1944. After graduating from the Université Catholique he spent short periods of study at the University of Lyon and at University College, London, before beginning to teach in the English department at Angers in 1954. From 1959 he was associated with the Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More
Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More
The Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More is the standard scholarly edition of the works of Thomas More, published by Yale University Press. The first of the fifteen volumes to be published appeared in 1963, and the last in 1997...
, a project based at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
On 1 July 1960 he attended the first night of A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.It was...
in London, publishing his first article about the play.
A Fulbright grant
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
enable Marc'hadour to spend fifteen months at Yale in 1960-1961, where he worked on the edition of the Supplication of Souls and consulted More holdings in Washington, San Marino, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto. He returned to North America on a number of occasions throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s as a researcher and as a lecturer, with stints at the Catholic University of America, Sherbrooke University, the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
and Rhode Island University.
On 29 December 1962 the international Association Amici Thomae Mori was founded in Brussels, Marc'hadour becoming the International Secretary in September 1963 and founding the journal Moreana.
In 1969 Marc'hadour obtained his doctorate from the Paris-Sorbonne University, with a dissertation on "Thomas More and the Bible". On the fourth centenary of More's birth, in 1977, he was invited to lecture at events in many different countries and on French television. He contributed the article on Thomas More to the fifteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica
On 18 May 1988 he was created a knight of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.
In 1989 a Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
was published in his honour, Miscellanea Moreana: Essays for Germain Marc'hadour, edited by Clare M. Murphy and Henri Gibaud (Medieval and Renaissance texts and studies 61).