Jacques Lacarrière (; 2 December 1925 – 17 September 2005) was a French writer, born in

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

. He studied

moral philosophy Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

classical literature Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, and Hindu philosophy and literature. Professionally, he was known as a prominent critic, journalist, and essayist.

Biography

A passionate admirer of ancient Greece and its mythology, Lacarrière wrote about it extensively. His essay '' L'été grec'' (Greek Summer) was an immense popular success. His classical works ''Maria of Egypt'' and ''Dictionnaire amoureux de la Grèce'' (Dictionary for one who loves Greece) were also successes. Of interest to ethnographers and ecologists is his ''Chemin faisant: Mille kilomètres à pied à travers la France'' (1974, On the way: One thousand kilometers by foot across France). It was based on his walking across France in 1971, when he kept to small roads and byways, stopping at villages. Beginning in August, he traveled from Saverne in the Vosges, reaching Leucate in November, which is located in the Corbières. It was reprinted by Fayard in 1997 with a postscript entitled "Memory of roads," and addition of selected letters from readers. It was released again in 2014, again by Fayard. Lacarrière's 1973 literary essay, ''Les Gnostiques,'' is well respected for its insights into the early Christian religious movement of Gnosticism. The writer had met English author Lawrence Durrell in 1971, who had been studying some Gnostic texts since the early 1940s. Durrell featured Gnosticism as a plot element in the novels of his ''

The Avignon Quintet ''The Avignon Quintet'' is a five-volume series of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1974 and 1985. The novels are metafictional. He uses developments in experimental fiction that followed his ''The Alexandria Quartet'' ...

'' (1974 to 1985). He also wrote a "Foreword" to the 1974 English translation of Lacarrière's essay. He was Correspondent Member of Greek Writers Association “Unifying Process of Authors". For the whole of his work, in 1991 Lacarrière was awarded le Grand Prix de l'

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

(the Great Prize of the French Academy). He died in Paris on 17 September 2005, following complications from orthopedic surgery. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered in Greece, in the waters off the island of Spetses.

Works

In French

* ''Les Hommes ivres de Dieu'' (Men drunk with God), Arthaud 1961, Fayard 1975, (rééd. Seuil, Coll. ''Sagesses'', 1983) * ''Les Gnostiques,'' 1973, Idées Gallimard (rééd. Albin Michel, Coll. ''Spiritualités Vivantes Poche'', 1998) * ''Chemin faisant, mille kilomètres à pied à travers la France d'aujourd'hui'', 1974 (rééd. 1983, Fayard) * ''L’été grec : une Grèce quotidienne de 4 000 ans,'' 1976, Plon, Paris * ''Promenades dans la Grèce antique,'' 1978, guide Hachette (éd. commentée et ill. des ''Voyages'' de

Pausanias le Périégète Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

) * ''En cheminant avec Hérodote,'' 1981, Seghers (rééd. 1982 par Hachette, coll. Pluriel ) * ''Marie d’Égypte,'' 1983 (rééd. 1999 Collection Points-Seuil) * ''Au cœur des Mythologies, en suivant les Dieux,'' 1984, Hachette, coll. Pluriel (rééd. 1998, éd. Folio, ) * ''Ce bel aujourd'hui,'' 1989, Jean-Claude Lattès * ''Dictionnaire amoureux de la Grèce,'' Plon, collection Dictionnaire amoureux, 2001, * ''La Poussière du monde,'' Nil Éditions, 1997 * ''Lexique érotique de la Grèce'', Plon, 2003 *'' La Grèce des Hommes,'' Jacques Lacarrière & Emanuel Sanz, Editions Livre Total SA, Lausanne (Suisse), Luce Wilquin éditrice Dour, 1994, (épuisé)

Translated into English

*''The God-Possessed,'' London: George Allen & Unwin LTD, 1963. *''Men Possessed By God. The Story of the Desert Monks of Ancient Christendom,'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1964. *''The Gnostics,'' San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1989.() *''The Wisdom of Ancient Greece'' (Wisdom Of Series), edited, NY: Abbeville Press, 1996. () {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacarriere, Jacques 1925 births 2005 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers People from Limoges Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres