Ernest Louis Georges Will (25 April 1913 – 24 September 1997) was a 20th-century French archaeologist and University professor, a 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 ( epig ...

Biography

After he finished his secondary studies at the

Jean Sturm Gymnasium The Jean Sturm Gymnasium (french: Gymnase Jean-Sturm, german: Gymnasium Jean Sturm) is a private Protestant school in Strasbourg, teaching children from the third year of secondary education through to the Baccalaureat. History The school, w ...

and passed a licence de lettres at the

Strasbourg University The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, Ernest Will joined the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1933 and obtained an Aggregation classique in 1936. He was a student of the

French School at Athens The French School at Athens (french: École française d’Athènes, EfA; el, Γαλλική Σχολή Αθηνών ''Gallikí Scholí Athinón'') is one of the seventeen foreign archaeological institutes operating in Athens, Greece. History ...

from 1937 to 1939 and led excavations on the sites of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate re ...

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...

and

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

. When he was mobilized at the approach of World War II, he was affected in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

to the staff of General

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy in Paris. After graduating in 1 ...

. After the

Armistice of 22 June 1940 The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel ...

, he returned to France where he was now a teacher at the lycée Thiers in Marseille from 1940 to 1943, an assistant to dean Charles Dugas at the Faculty of Arts of Lyon, then he taught at the

Collège-lycée Ampère The Collège-lycée Ampère is a famous school located in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. History It was founded in 1519 by members of the Brotherhood of the Trinity. It was then known under the name of Collège de la Trinité. Under this name it ...

in Lyon (1945). On 1 October 1946, he became, with

Jean Starcky Abbé Jean Starcky (3 February 1909 – 9 October 1988) was a French priest who was one of the early editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in ...

, one of the first residents of the

Institut français du Proche-Orient The French Institute of the Near East (french: Institut français du Proche-Orient, IFPO) is part of the network of French Research Centers abroad. It has branches in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. History The IFPO was created in 2003 by ...

in Beirut, which has founded the same year by

Henri Seyrig Henri Arnold Seyrig (; 10 November 1895 – 21 January 1973) was a French archaeologist, numismatist, and historian. He was the general director of antiquities of Syria and Lebanon since 1929, and director, for more than twenty years, of the ...

and specialized in research on the Hellenized Middle East. On his return to France in 1951, he was an assistant in Greek language at the University of Lille (1951–1953). He defended a thèse d'État ès lettres in 1953, entitled ''Le relief cultuel gréco-romain : contribution à l'histoire de l'art de l'Empire romain'', and was recruited as a university professor in Lille (1953–1963). He was Director of Historic Antiquities of North-Picardie (1953–1968). He joined the Faculté des lettres de Paris as Greek language and literature professor (1963–1970) and then became a professor of art history and archeology at the

Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie The Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie is a building at 3 rue Michelet in Paris, built for the educational institution of the same name (French for "Institute of Art and Archaeology"). It was initially designed in 1920 in a unique eclectic style by ...

of the Pantheon-Sorbonne University (1970-1973). He returned to Beirut as Director of the Institut français d’archéologie du Proche-Orient (IFAPO) (1973-1980), and in this context, engaged into considerable activity during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, to protect the interests of the Institute and "give it a new impetus," including by opening branches in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

(Jordan) and

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

(Syria) Since 2003, the IFAPO is a component of the current

(IFPO). After his mission was accomplished, he resumed his position at the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie then took his academic retirement in 1982. For 19 years he directed the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

'' dedicated to archaeology published by the Institut Français du Proche-Orient (1978–1997). He was appointed member of the Scientific Council of the

École française d'Extrême-Orient The French School of the Far East (french: École française d'Extrême-Orient, ), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in wh ...

in 1992.Arrêté du 2 juin 1992, JORF n°130, 5 June 1992 (p. 7483)

Sources

Fonds EW - Ernest Will. Archéologie du Proche-Orient hellénistique et romain
MAE René-Ginouvès, université Paris Ouest Nanterre. *

Roger Agache Roger Agache (August 16, 1926 – September 17, 2011) was a French archaeologist. He was among the first to take part in aerial archaeology in France, and helped to develop a methodology for aerial prospecting. Early life and education Agache ...

and Jean-Claude Blanchet
« Nécrologie d'Ernest Will (1913-1997) »
'' Revue archéologique de Picardie'', n°3-4, 1997, (p. 5–7), Read online
« Bibliographie d'Ernest Will (1913–1997) »
''Syria'', volume 75, 1998, (p. 1–8), Read online * ''Mélanges offerts à Ernest Will'', Université de Lille III, Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1984, 430 p. (special issue of '' Revue du Nord'', n°260) *

Georges Le Rider Georges Charles Le Rider (27 January 1928 – 3 July 2014) was a French historian, librarian and administrator, a specialist in Greek numismatics, who headed the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. He had a filial relationship with Henri ...

, ''Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Ernest Will'', Palais de l'Institut, Paris, 1999, 10 p. * Théodore Rieger, « Ernest Will », in ', vol. 40, p. 42-43 *

Maurice Sartre Maurice Sartre (born 3 October 1944) is a French historian, an Emeritus professor of ancient history at the François Rabelais University, a specialist in ancient Greek and Eastern Roman history, especially the Hellenized Middle East, from Alexand ...

, « Will Ernest (1913-1997) », ''

Encyclopædia Universalis The ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' is a French-language general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles of the ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' are aimed at educated adult readers, and writt ...

'
Read online

Works

*1949: ''La Tour funéraire de Palmyre'', Paris, Paul Geuthner. *1955: ''Le Relief cultuel gréco-romain : contribution à l'histoire de l'art de l'Empire romain'', Paris, E. de Boccard. *1992: ''Les Palmyréniens'', Paris, Armand Colin. *1995: ''De l'Euphrate au Rhin'', somme de contributions, IFAPO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Will, Ernest 1913 births People from Bas-Rhin 1997 deaths French archaeologists École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the University of Lille Nord de France University of Strasbourg alumni Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Members of the French School at Athens 20th-century archaeologists