Jean Vezin (30 July 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a French librarian and

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

historian, specializing in Latin

palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

and

codicology Codicology (; from French ''codicologie;'' from Latin , genitive , "notebook, book" and Greek , '' -logia'') is the study of codices or manuscript books. It is often referred to as "the archaeology of the book," a term coined by François Masai. ...

Biography

Vezin was born in

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

. A student at the

École Nationale des Chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (, literally National School of Charters) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at ...

, he obtained the archivist palaeographer diploma in 1958 with a thesis entitled ''Les scriptoria d’Angers au XIe siècle'' then joined the

Casa de Velázquez The ''Casa de Velázquez'' is a French school in Spain modelled on the Villa Médicis in Rome, and Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algeria.''75 aniversario de la Casa de Velázquez. Memoria gráfica 1928-2003'', Madrid, Casa de Velázquez, 2006, 182 p. - ac ...

. A curator at the manuscript department of the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

from 1962 to 1974, he also taught palaeography at the Institute for Latin Studies of the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

, as well as palaeography and codicology at the École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques. In 1974, he was elected a research director at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

. He was co-director of the ''Chartæ Latinæ Antiquiores'' and the ''Monumenta palæographica Medii Ævi''. He also headed the librarians-documentalists school of the

Institut catholique de Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...

from 1985 to 1998. The author of more than two hundred articles, Vezin was elected a corresponding 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 ...

on 21 November 1997.Site de l'AIBL
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References

External links

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''La répartition du travail dans les « scriptoria » carolingiens''
on Persée
''Doctor honoris causa'' Jean Vézin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vezin, Jean Writers from Vannes 1933 births 2020 deaths French medievalists French palaeographers French librarians Latin–French translators École pratique des hautes études faculty Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres École Nationale des Chartes alumni Corresponding members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers Codicologists