Henri Gouhier (; 5 December 1898 – 31 March 1994) was a French philosopher, a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

of philosophy, and a literary critic.

Biography

Born in

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...

, Gouhier's studies led to a doctorate in 1926. He served as the Professor of philosophy at a '' lycée'' in Troyes from 1925 to 1928. Then he taught at the Faculty of Arts at the

University of Lille The University of Lille (french: Université de Lille, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the ...

between 1929 and 1940; subsequently, he taught at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a Lists of universities in France, public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southern France, southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bor ...

during 1940 and 1941. Gouhier was a professor at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

for twenty-seven years from 1941 to 1968. In 1979 he was elected to the Académie française and in 1988 was awarded the

Prix mondial Cino Del Duca The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca (Cino Del Duca World Prize) is an international literary award. With an award amount of , it is among the richest literary prizes. Origins and operations It was established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca (191 ...

. Gouhier supervised the undergraduate dissertation of famed sociologist

Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence ...

, a translation of and commentary on Leibniz's ''Animadversions''.Derek Robbins, "Pierre Bourdieu, 1930-2002," ''Theory, Culture & Society'' 19:3 (2002), 13 He also was a teacher of Michel Foucault and was the chair of his thesis jury. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Honours

* Commander of the Legion of Honor * Grand Officer of the Ordre National du Mérite * Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouhier 1898 births 1994 deaths People from Auxerre University of Paris faculty University of Bordeaux faculty French literary critics University of Lille Nord de France faculty Members of the Académie Française French historians of philosophy Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French male writers