Name Louis Brehier | ||
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Louis René Bréhier ([bʁeje]; August 5, 1868, Brest – October 13, 1951, Reims) was a French historian who specialized in Byzantine studies. The philosopher Émile Bréhier was his brother.
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Biography
He studied history and literature in Paris, obtaining his agrégation in history in 1892. Afterwards, he worked as a schoolteacher in Montauban, Bourges, Reims and Saint-Quentin (1892–99). In 1899 he received his doctorate at the Sorbonne with the dissertation Le schisme oriental du XIe siècle ("The Eastern Schism in the 11th Century"). From 1903 to 1938 he was professor of ancient and medieval history in Clermont-Ferrand. His travels were largely confined to the Mediterranean world that included an archaeological mission to Mount Athos in 1930. He settled in Reims after World War II and died in this city in 1951.
Bréhier's best known work was the three-volume Le Monde byzantin ("The Byzantine World"). He was a specialist of Byzantine iconography, and in 1924 published an influential treatise on Byzantine art titled L'Art byzantin. In 1935 he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres.
Selected publications
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