Gilles Quispel (30 May 1916 – 2 March 2006) was a Dutch theologian and historian of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

and

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

. He was professor of early Christian history at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

, after finishing secondary school in Dordrecht, Quispel studied

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...

from 1934 to 1941 at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city o ...

. At Leiden he also began to study theology, which he continued at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

. Quispel completed his doctoral work in 1943 at

with a dissertation examining the sources utilized in

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

's ''Adversus Marcionem''. He devoted study to several Gnostic systems, particularly Valentinianism. In 1948-1949 he spent a year in Rome as a Bollingen fellow and was appointed Professor of the History of the Early Church at

in 1951. Quispel served as a visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1964-1965 and at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

in 1968. He was engaged in first editing

Nag Hammadi Codex The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

I (the " Jung Codex") and devoted attention to the

Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

and particularly to the

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is an extra-canonical sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate ...

throughout the rest of his career. Quispel also made contributions to the study of early "Jewish-Christian" traditions as well as

Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; la, Tatianus; grc, Τατιανός; syc, ܛܛܝܢܘܣ; c. 120 – c. 180 AD) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential w ...

Diatessaron The ''Diatessaron'' ( syr, ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܕܡܚܠܛܐ, Ewangeliyôn Damhalltê; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony, and was created by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to com ...

(a second-century gospel harmony). He died in

El Gouna El Gouna ( ar, الجونة ' , "the Lagoon") is an Egyptian tourist city, owned and developed by Samih Sawiris' Orascom Development, dating from 1989. It is located on the Red Sea in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt, north of Hurghada. It is ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Works

* ''The Original Doctrine of Valentine'', Amsterdam, North-Holland 1947. * ''A Jewish Source of Minucius Felix'', 1949. * ''Gnosis als Weltreligion'', 1951. * ''Faust: Symbol of Western Man'', 1967. * ''Gnosis and The New Sayings of Jesus'', Rhein-Verlag, 1971. * ''The Birth of The Child: Some Gnostic and Jewish Aspects'', Leiden: Brill 1973. * ''From Mythos to Logos'', Leiden: Brill 1973. * ''Gnostic Studies'', 2 vols., Istanbul, 1974. * ''

and the Gospel of Thomas: Studies in the History of the Western

'', Leiden: Brill 1975. * ''The Secret Book of Revelation: The Last Book of The Bible'', New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979. * ''Gnosis and Psychology'', Leiden: Brill 1973. * ''Jewish and Gnostic Man'', (Eranos Lecures) 1986. * ''Gnostica, Judaica, Catholica. Collected Essays of Gilles Quispel'', edited by Johannes van Oort, Leiden: Brill 2008.

Commemorative publications

* * R. van den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren (eds.), ''Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions: Presented to Gilles Quispel on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday'' (Leiden 1981) 1916 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Dutch historians Dutch historians of religion Historians of Gnosticism Leiden University alumni Writers from Rotterdam Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University {{Netherlands-historian-stub