Paul Léon (2 October 1874 – 1 August 1962) was a French art professor and

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

Biography

He spent his childhood in

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

, where his family originated. He attended college in

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connection ...

. After receiving his

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

, he continued his studies at the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, var ...

. He passed his examinations and became an agrégé in 1898. After a few years of teaching, he was employed by the Ministry of Public Works, then became a contributor and staff member at the ''

Annales de géographie The ''Annales de Géographie'' is a French journal devoted to geography, first published in 1891. From the start the journal was an influential and respected academic journal. History The ''Annales de Géographie'' was founded in 1891 by Paul Vid ...

''. In 1905, he found a position as chief-of-staff to the Undersecretary of State for Fine Arts, . The following year, he married Madeleine Alexandre; daughter of , Engineer for Bridges and Roadways. They had a son and a daughter. In 1907, he became chief of the architectural division at the Undersecretariat, a division he helped to create. In 1919, he was named the Director of Fine Arts and, in 1928, the Director General.Archives Nationales
Paul Léon, diecteur général des beaux-arts
During that time, in 1922, he was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, where he took Seat #6 in the "Unattached" section. He would hold that position until his death forty years later. He retired from his functions as Director General in 1933, to become a professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

, teaching the history of monumental art. He also served as the principal historiographer in the service of France's

Monuments Historiques ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

. As were thousands of others, he was seriously affected by the "

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...

" of 1940/41, and took refuge in the

zone libre The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by ...

. After the fall of the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

, he was officially retired from the Collège. During his retirement, he was a conservator at the

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the c ...

in Chantilly, and President of the Artistic Council of the

Réunion des Musées Nationaux The Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) is a French cultural umbrella organisation, an établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC), formed in 2011, through the merger of the Paris National Museums and the Grand Palais. It ...

. He wrote numerous books on the history of Paris and historical monuments.

References

External links

* Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
"Paul Léon, Administrateur des arts et du patrimoine"
__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Paul 1874 births 1962 deaths French art directors French art historians French historiographers Members of the Académie des beaux-arts People from Rueil-Malmaison

Biography

References

Further reading

External links