Pierre Maraval (31 August 1936 – 6 March 2021) was a French historian and academic, specialising in the
Early Christianity (c. 31/33–324) and of
Late antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
.
Life
Youth and training
Born into a modest family in
Roquecourbe
Roquecourbe (; oc, Ròcacorba) is a commune in the Tarn department and Occitanie region of southern France.
The name of the settlement – ''Ròca Corba'' in Occitan – means "curved rock".
See also
*Communes of the Tarn department
The ...
, Maraval inherited from his mother, who was very pious, a religious commitment that led him to the minor seminary. He briefly entered a monastery in which he worked as a librarian.
Maraval graduated in Catholic theology in 1964, and taught
patristics
Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
at the Redemptorists' studendat in Dreux from 1967 to 1970. At the same time, he was invited to the Academie Alfonsiana, at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, but confirmed his taste for ancient languages. He defended a thesis in 1971 on
Gregory of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( grc-gre, Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. He is venerated as a saint in Catholici ...
's ''Vie de sainte Macrine'', the text of which he established before translating and commenting on it, under the direction of the Hellenist
Marguerite Harl
Marguerite Harl (3 April 1919 – 30 August 2020) was a French scholar, who worked on the Septuagint, Philo of Alexandria and early patristic writers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen. She was born in Paris in April 1919 and became a pupil ...
.
In 1974, Maraval was agrégé des lettres and doctor d'Etat in 1983. In 1985, he defended a new thesis in history entitled ''Lieux saints et pèlerinages d'Orient. Histoire et géographie des origines à la conquête arabe''
University career
Maraval was and professor at the
Marc Bloch University The University Marc Bloch, also known as Strasbourg II or UMB was a university in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. As of 2006, it had around 13,000 students. Its name used to be ''Université des Sciences Humaines'' (University of Social Sciences), but i ...
from 1971 to 1998, professor at Paris-Sorbonne University from 1998 to 2004, then
emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of the same university.
A member of the
Société des Antiquaires de France
The Société des Antiquaires de France (Society of Antiquaries of France) is a Parisian historical and archaeological society, founded in 1804 under the name of the Académie celtique (Celtic Academy). It is now based at the Louvre, in the pavil ...
, the French Committee for Byzantine Studies and the Association for Late Antiquity, he was a
visiting scholar
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
in several European and North American universities and a member of the editorial board of a number of academic journals. He was also director of the Centre for Patristic Analysis and Documentation between 1987 and 1995.
Maraval died in Toulouse at the age of 84.
Awards
* of the
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 ...
(2010).
* of the
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...
(2008).
*
Commandeur de l'ordre des Palmes académiques.
Publications
* ''Grégoire de Nysse, Vie de sainte Macrine'', editing and translation, Paris,
Éditions du Cerf
''Éditions du Cerf'' ( French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order.
The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41):
As the hart pantet ...
, 1971 (''
Sources Chrétiennes
Sources Chrétiennes ( French "Christian sources") is a bilingual collection of patristic texts founded in Lyon in 1942 by the Jesuits Jean Daniélou, Claude Mondésert, and Henri de Lubac. Citations to the series are commonly made by the letter ...
'', ).
* ''Égérie, Journal de voyage (Itinéraire)'', editing and translation, Paris, Cerf, 1982 (''Sources Chrétiennes'', ).
* ''Lieux saints et pèlerinages d'Orient. Histoire et géographie des origines à la conquête arabe'', Paris, Cerf, 1985; 2004; Cerf/CNRS 2011.
* ''La Passion inédite de S. Athénogène de Pédachthoé en Cappadoce'', editing and translation, Brussels, Société des Bollandistes, 1990.
* ''Grégoire de Nysse, Lettres'', editing and translation, Paris, Cerf, 1990 ("Sources Chrétiennes", ).
* ''Procope de Césarée, Histoire secrète'', annotated translation, Paris, Les Belles-Lettres, 1990, 2000.
* ''Les persécutions des chrétiens pendant les quatre premiers siècles'', Paris, Desclée, 1992.
* ''Petite vie de Saint-Jérôme'', Paris, Desclée, 1998.
* ''Récits des premiers pèlerins chrétiens au Proche-Orient, IV - VII'', annotated translation, Paris, Cerf, 1996.
* ''Le christianisme de Constantin à la conquête arabe'', Paris, PUF, ''Nouvelle Clio'', 1997.
* ''L'empereur Justinien'', Paris, PUF (series ''
Que sais-je ?
"Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...
''), 1999 CNRS Éditions, 2012.
* ''Eusèbe de Césarée, La théologie politique de l’empire chrétien. Louanges de Constantin'', traduction annotée, Paris, Cerf, 2001.
* ''Socrate de Constantinople. Histoire Ecclésiastique'', editing and translation, 4 volumes, Paris, Cerf, 2004-2007 ("Sources Chrétiennes", , 493, 505, 506).
* ''Le christianisme des origines à Constantin'', Paris, PUF, ''Nouvelle Clio'', 2006 (in collaboration with
Simon Claude Mimouni
Simon Claude Mimouni (born 26 April 1949, Bône, French Algeria) is a French biblical scholar. He published first on Christian legends surrounding the assumption of Mary (1995, 2003), then worked on fragments of Jewish–Christian gospels associa ...
).
* ''Agathias, Histoires. Guerres et malheurs du temps sous Justinien'', annotated translation, Paris, Les Belles-Lettres, 2007.
* ''Théodose le Grand. Le pouvoir et la foi'', Paris,
Fayard
Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre.
In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...
, 2009.
* ''Actes et Passions des martyrs chrétiens des premiers siècles'', traduction annotée, Paris, Cerf, 2010.
* ''Discours et Lettres de Constantin'', annotated translation, Paris, Les Belles-Lettres, 2010.
* ''Constantin le Grand'', Paris, Éditions Tallandier, 2011, 2014.
* ''Les fils de Constantin'', Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2013.
* ''Grégoire de Nysse, Éloge de Grégoire le Thaumaturge, Éloge de Basile'', editing and translation, Paris, Cerf, 2014.
* ''Justinien. Le rêve d'un empire chrétien universel'', Paris, Éditions Tallandier, 2016.
* ''Alexandre le Grand et les brahmanes'' (''Palladios d'Hélénopolis, La vie des brahmanes; Collatio Alexandri et Dindimi''), translation, Paris, Les Belles-Lettres, 2016.
* ''Grégoire de Nysse, Lettre canonique, lettre sur la pythonisse et six homélies pastorales'', editing and translation, Paris, Cerf, 2017 (''Sources Chrétiennes'', ).
References
External links
Maraval Pierre on ''
Deutsche Biographie
''Deutsche Biographie'' ( en, German Biography) is a German-language online biographical dictionary. It published thus far information about more than 730,000 individuals and families (2016).Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie ...
''
CV de Pierre Maraval
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraval, Pierre
1936 births
2021 deaths
20th-century French historians
21st-century French historians
French scholars of Roman history
French Byzantinists
French historians of religion
Intellectual historians
French philologists
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
People from Tarn (department)