Louis Chatelain (23 February 1883 – 6 October 1950) was a 20th-century French historian, archaeologist and university professor. The son of

Émile Chatelain Émile Chatelain (25 November 1851 – 26 November 1933) was a French Latinist and palaeographer. Biography A member of the École française de Rome (1876–1877), collaborator of Henri Denifle for the ''Chartularium'', curator of the Bibli ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

Latinist Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, he particularly worked on the excavation sites of Orange,

Maktar Maktar or Makthar ( ar, مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At th ...

(Tunisia) and Volubilis (Morocco).

Education

* A student of the École pratique des hautes études in the historical and philological sciences department, he defended a thesis entitled ''Les monuments romains d'Orange'' in 1908. * A member of the

École française de Rome The École française de Rome (EFR) is a French research institute for history, archaeology, and the social sciences; overseen by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and a division of the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et d ...

(1908–1911), his memoir then was devoted to the Makthar site.

Works

Besides his work on Orange and Makthar, most of its activity focused on Morocco's classical archeology in general and in particular Volubilis. During World War II, after being wounded, he was assigned to Volubilis where he had the site cleared by German prisoners of war and French soldiers. In 1918, he was appointed director of the department of antiquities of Morocco. He played a role in the creation of the

Rabat Archaeological Museum The Museum of History and Civilizations (, french: Musée de l'histoire et des civilisations) is an archaeological museum in Rabat, Morocco. Opened in 1932, it contains the most extensive collection of archaeological artifacts found in the country. ...

in 1928. A teacher in Morocco until 1941, he was later appointed to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. In 1943, he supported a thesis entitled ''Le Maroc des Romains''.

Publications (selection)

In addition to numerous articles: *1908: ''Les monuments romains d'Orange'' *1916: ''Les Fouilles de Volubilis (Ksar-Faraoun, Maroc)'' *1923: ''Inscriptions latines d'Afrique (Tripolitaine, Tunisie, Maroc''), with

René Cagnat René Cagnat (10 October 1852 – 27 March 1937) was a French historian, a specialist of Latin epigraphy and history of North Africa during Antiquity. Biography On the death of his father, Léon Renier, a friend of the family, supported his ed ...

and

Alfred Merlin Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

*1942: ''Inscriptions latines du Maroc'' *1944: ''Le Maroc des Romains: étude sur les centres antiques de la Maurétanie occidentale'' *1949: ''Le Maroc des Romains: Album d'illustrations''

Bibliography

* Véronique Brouquier-Reddé, Institut national des sciences de l'archéologie et du patrimoine (Maroc) and René Rebuffat: ''Louis Chatelain (1883-1950): biographie et bibliographie''. Institut national des sciences de l'archéologie et du patrimoine, 2004.

External links

Louis Chatelain
on data.bnf.fr
Fiche sur le site de l'académie des sciences d'outremer

''La Préhistoire au Musée Louis Chatelain à Rabat (Maroc)''
on Persée
''Le Maroc des Romains, étude sur les centres antiques de la Maurétanie occidentale''
by Louis Chatelain on Persée {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatelain, Louis 1883 births Scientists from Paris 1950 deaths École pratique des hautes études alumni 20th-century French historians French archaeologists French epigraphers 20th-century archaeologists