Jérôme Carcopino (27 June 1881 – 17 March 1970) was a French historian, author, and Nazi collaborator. He was the fifteenth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
, in 1955.
Biography
Carcopino was born at
Verneuil-sur-Avre
Verneuil-sur-Avre (, literally ''Verneuil on Avre (Eure), Avre'') is a former Communes of France, commune in the Eure Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was me ...
, Eure, son of a doctor from a Corsican family related to
Bonaparte, and educated at the
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
where he specialised in history. From 1904 to 1907 he was a member of the French School in Rome. In 1912 he was a professor of history in
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
. In 1912 he became a lecturer at the
University of Algiers and inspector of antiquities in
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
until 1920. His career was interrupted by
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
when he served in the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
. He became a professor at the
Sorbonne in 1920 until 1937 when he became Director of the French School in Rome. He was a member of many archaeological and historical institutes in Europe.
During the
Nazi Occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Carcopino was appointed first as the Director of the
École normale supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
, and later the
Minister of National Education and Youth under
Pétain's
Vichy regime.
He held the ministerial role from 25 February 1941 to 18 April 1942. In this role, Carcopino was an eager supporter of the new regime, overseeing the promulgation of a number of
antisemitic legal decrees excluding Jewish students and teachers from educational institutions.
Carcopino was removed from his position after the war due to his complicity in the Vichy regime, and was interned at
Fresnes Prison from August 1944 until February 1945, before being legally rehabilitated in 1947 for "services rendered to the resistance".
Carcopino's students appear to have subsequently made efforts to launder his reputation in academia, and attention has also been drawn to the fact that he did protect some individual Jewish scholars, such as
Marc Bloch
Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on France in the Middle ...
.
Bibliography
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carcopino, Jerome
1881 births
1970 deaths
People from Eure
Writers from Normandy
École Normale Supérieure alumni
Academic staff of the University of Paris
French classical scholars
French military personnel of World War I
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
Historians of antiquity
20th-century French historians
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Members of the Académie Française
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
French people of Corsican descent
Ministers of national education of France
French scholars of Roman history
People of Vichy France
French fascists
Antisemitism in France
French collaborators with Nazi Germany