Adolphe-André Porée, known as Chanoine Porée (14 March 1848, Bernay – 28 February 1939, Saint-Aubin-d'Écrosville), was a French archaeologist and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. Originally from Beaumont-en-Auge, his father, Adolphe Porée, ran a dyeing factory in Bernay. A very religious individual, Porée embraced the priesthood at the age of twenty-three. In 1871, he became the curé of the collegiate church of

Les Andelys Les Andelys (; Norman: ''Les Aundelys'') is a commune in the northern French department of Eure, in Normandy. Geography It lies on the Seine, about northeast of Évreux. The commune is divided into two parts, Grand-Andely (located about fr ...

. In 1875, he became the curé of Bournainville-Faverolles where he remained fifty-three years. Porée spent his nights studying archeology, with particular attention paid to the churches of

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.First Empire, local notables and the impact of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. Porée, who also was the diocesan archivist, undertook, from 1890 to 1892, an archaeological expedition through

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Switzerland and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 1882, he discovered, along with the abbé de La Balle and Gaston Le Breton, a lost statue by

Pierre Puget Pierre Paul Puget (16 October 1620 – 2 December 1694) was a French Baroque painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. His sculpture expressed emotion, pathos and drama, setting it apart from the more classical and academic sculpture of the ...

on the old La Londe castle grounds at

Biéville-Beuville Biéville-Beuville () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The hyphenated name originates from the former communes of ''Biéville-sur-Orne'' and ''Beuville'', which were united in 1972. Topony ...

. This statue of ''Hercules slaying the Hydra of Lerna'', which was originally in the Château du Vaudreuil, is now at the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877 and 1888. Its collections include ...

. A disciple of

Auguste Le Prévost Auguste Le Prévost (3 June 1787 in Bernay, Eure – 14 July 1859 in La Vaupalière) was a French geologist, philologist, archaeologist and historian. While studying classics and law, Le Prevost developed a passion for history and archeology. ...

and

Leopold Delisle Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

, he was the director of the

Société des Antiquaires de Normandie Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

, a corresponding member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

and an Officer of Public Instruction. He was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1926. Porée's ''Histoire de l'Abbaye du Bec'' is his magnum opus. Several streets were named after him, in Bec-Hellouin, Bournainville-Faverolles,

Pont-Audemer Pont-Audemer () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France.

Selected works

* * * * * * * *

References

Sources

* ''Bulletin de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie'', vol. 46-47, Société des antiquaires de Normandie, Caen, 1939, p. 15 passim. {{DEFAULTSORT:Poree, Adolphe-Andre French archaeologists 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians Knights of the Legion of Honour Corresponding members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres People from Bernay, Eure 1848 births 1939 deaths 19th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers