Philippe Levillain (27 November 1940 – 4 October 2021) was a French historian and academic. He specialized in the history of Catholicism and the papacy and notably wrote a historic encyclopedia of the papacy.

Biography

Levillain attended the Lycée Montaigne in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

for secondary school. He then studied at 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 ...

and earned an

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

in history in 1965. He then served as an assistant professor at

Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...

from 1975 to 1981. He defended his doctoral thesis, ''Le deuxième concile du Vatican et sa procédure'', in 1972 under the direction of

René Rémond René Rémond (; 30 September 1918 – 14 April 2007) was a French historian, political scientist and political economist. Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques (JEC France in 1943) and a ...

at Paris Nanterre University. He was then sent to the , where he directed studies in modern and contemporary history from 1977 to 1981. He completed his in 1979 and became a professor of contemporary history at the

Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III The Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III (french: Université Lille 3 Charles-de-Gaulle) was a French university. Since 1974, the main campus of University of Lille III was located in Villeneuve d'Ascq in eastern Lille, at ''Pont de Bois'' me ...

, where he stayed from 1982 to 1986. He then spent the remainder of his career at Paris Nanterre University, where he became a professor emeritus. Levillain was a senior member of the

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that distinguishes each year a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

from 1998 to 2003 and was also a member of the

Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences The Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences is a division of the Roman Curia established on 7 April 1954 by Pope Pius XII. Background Pope Pius XII created this committee on 7 April 1954 as the successor to the Commission of Cardinals for Hist ...

. He was elected to be a member of the

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques 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, f ...

on 19 December 2011, succeeding the historian

Pierre Chaunu Pierre Chaunu (17 August 1923 – 22 October 2009) was a French historian. His specialty was Latin American history; he also studied French social and religious history of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. A leading figure in French quantitati ...

. He served as President of the

Société de l'histoire de France The Société de l'histoire de France (SHF) (English: ''Society of the History of France'') was established on 21 December 1833 at the instigation of the French minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot, in order to contribute to the renewa ...

in 2012. He hosted the radio show ' on

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentari ...

from 1982 to 2014. Levillain died on 4 October 2021 at the age of 80.

Distinctions

*Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(2016) *Officer of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

*Officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

*Grand Officer of the

Order of St. Sylvester Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr ( la, Ordo Sancti Silvestri Papae, it, Ordine di San Silvestro Papa), sometimes referred to as the Sylvestrine Order, or the Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester, is one of five o ...

*Commander of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...

*Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

Books

*''Boulanger, fossoyeur de la monarchie'' (1982) *''Albert de Mun : Catholicisme français et catholicisme romain du syllabus au ralliement'' (1983) *''Nations et Saint-Siège au xxe siècle'' (2003) *''Le Moment Benoît XVI'' (2008) *''Rome n'est plus dans Rome - Mgr Lefebvre et son église'' (2010) *''La Papauté foudroyée'' (2015) *''Le Tableau d’honneur'' (2020)

Collaborative books

*''Paul VI et la modernité dans l'Église'' (1983) *''Le Vatican ou les frontières de la grâce'' (with François-Charles Uginet, 1992) *''Dictionnaire historique de la papauté'' (1994); English translation: ''The Papacy. An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, London 2002 *''« Rome, l'unique objet de mon ressentiment », Regards critiques sur la papauté'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levillain, Philippe 1940 births 2021 deaths Writers from Paris French historians of religion École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of Paris Nanterre University Academic staff of Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Commanders of the Legion of Honour Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians