Charles Diehl (; 19 January 1859 – 1 November 1944) was a French

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 ...

born in Strasbourg. He was a leading authority on

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted u ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Biography

He received his education 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, S ...

, and later taught classes on

Byzantine history This history of the Byzantine Empire covers the history of the Eastern Roman Empire from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the transitional period during which the Rom ...

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, ...

. He was member of the

École française de Rome The École française de Rome (EFR) is a French research institute for history, archaeology, and the social sciences; overseen by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and a division of the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et ...

(1881–1883) and the

École française d'Athènes The French School at Athens (french: École française d’Athènes, EfA; el, Γαλλική Σχολή Αθηνών ''Gallikí Scholí Athinón'') is one of the seventeen foreign archaeological institutes operating in Athens, Greece. History ...

. In 1910 he became a member of the ''

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

'' (elected president in 1921). He died in Paris.

Legacy

The Karolou Dil Street in the city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

(

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

) was named after Charles Diehl. The street is located near the Byzantine church of

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

that was restored by him between 1907 and 1909.

Honours and awards

Honorary degrees

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 high ...

* Université libre de Bruxelles *

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

* National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Prizes

Montyon Prize The Montyon Prize (french: Prix Montyon) is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French R ...

(1981) * Marcelin-Guérin Prize (1907) * Grand Prix of the Académie Française (1944)

Acknowledgement

* Member of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

* Member of the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...

* Member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

* Associate Member of the Real Academia de la Historia * Associate Member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

Honours

* Grand officier 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 ...

(1939)

Selected works

Diehl was the author of several influential books on

and

. His treatise "''Byzance. Grandeur et décadence''" was translated into English by Naomi Walford and published in 1957 as "''Byzantium: Greatness and Decline''".''Byzantium: Greatness and Decline''
Charles Diehl 1878

Other published works by Diehl include: *1896: ''L'Art byzantin dans L'Italie méridionale'' – Byzantine art in southern Italy. *1896: ''L'Afrique byzantine. Histoire de la domination byzantine en Afrique (533–709)'' – Byzantine Africa; history of Byzantine domination in Africa 533–709. *1901: ''Justinien et la Civilisation byzantine au 6. Siècle'' –

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...

and the Byzantine civilization of the 6th century. *1904: ''Theodora, Imperatrice de Byzance'' –

Theodora Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". Theodora may also refer to: Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodora o ...

, Imperatrice of Byzantium. *1906–1908: ''Figures Byzantines'' – Byzantine figures. *1908: ''Excursions archéologiques en Grèce'' – Archaeological excursions in Greece. *1910: ''Manuel d'art byzantin'' – Manual of Byzantine art. *1920: ''Histoire de l'empire byzantin'' – History of the Byzantine Empire. *1928: ''L'Art chrétien primitif et l'art byzantin'' – Early Christian art and Byzantine art. *1933: ''La Peinture byzantine'' – Byzantine paintings. *1943: ''Les Grands Problèmes de l'Histoire Byzantine'' – The main problems of Byzantine history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diehl, Charles French Byzantinists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Writers from Strasbourg University of Paris faculty École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the French School at Athens French art historians 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians 1859 births 1944 deaths Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Historians of Byzantine art Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Foreign members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts