Jean Porcher
Jean Louis Victor Porcher (25 January 1892 – 26 April 1966) was a French librarian, historian and library curator.
Biography
Jean Porcher was born in Paris. Porcher was a third-year student at the National School of Charters when he was sent to fight in the World War I as a gunner. His conduct was noticed and he returned with the Croix de Guerre, four commendations (including one in the Army Order) and the Legion of Honour.[1]
He then resumed his studies and finally obtained his diploma of archivist paleographer with the class of '21, with a thesis entitled Le De disciplina scholarium. Traité du xiiie siècle faussement attribué à Boëce, published with an introduction and notes. He was a student at the École française de Rome from 1921 to 1923 and spent another year at the University of Bonn. He finally learned Russian at the École des langues orientales.
After becoming a librarian at the National Library, he was appointed to the Department of Entries, in charge of French periodicals, then moved to the Department of Prints (Inventory Service), became assistant to Émile Dacier in the Department of Entries, and finally chief curator of the Department of Manuscripts, when Philippe Lauer left (1941). However, this last appointment was challenged in 1942 by the administration of Bernard Faÿ, who was to appoint Robert Devreesse. Porcher took over his position in 1944 and directed the department until his retirement in 1962.[2]
After the Second World War, Porcher helped Baron Maurice de Rothshild to recover his collection of manuscripts that had been confiscated by the German forces.[3]
A specialist in the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (notably François Rabelais, with Abel Lefranc), he was the author of numerous studies, as well as of the Corpus des manuscrits à enluminures. His bibliography was published in 1963 on the occasion of Mélanges dedicated to him in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts.
He was portrayed by his obituaries as kind and friendly, although his frankness and taste for truth have sometimes made him seem sharp.
Notes
- ↑ Masson, André (1969). "Jean Porcher (1892-1966)," Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes, No. 127, pp. 521–25.
- ↑ Josserand, Pierre (1966). "Jean Porcher (1892-1966)," Bulletin d'informations de l'ABF, No. 53, pp. 247–49.
- ↑ Tesnière, Marie-Hélène (12 octobre 2021). "Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame de Jean de Berry," Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA).
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1892 births
- 1966 deaths
- 20th-century French historians
- Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
- Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
- École Nationale des Chartes alumni
- French archivists
- French art historians
- French military personnel of World War I
- Librarians from Paris
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
