Marc H. Smith (born 25 July 1963) is a French historian and

palaeographer 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 ...

. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, he has both French and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

citizenship.

Education

Marc Smith obtained his

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

degree as major (valedictorian) of the 1988 class of 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 ...

with a thesis entitled ''La France et sa civilisation vues par les Italiens au XVIe'', then started his career as curator at the Archives nationales (1988–1994).

Career

A former 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 ...

(1990–1993), doctor of 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 ...

with a thesis on ''Les Italiens à la découverte de la France au XVIe : géographie, voyages et représentations de l'espace'' (1993), he was general secretary of the École nationale des chartes (1995–1998), and since professor of medieval and modern palaeography. In 2013, he was also elected director of studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, section of Historical and Philological Sciences (chair of Palaeography and history of writing in Latin characters). He also taught at the University Paris-Sorbonne (1998–2000), the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

of New York (2014–2016), and head of the ''Mellon Summer Institute in Vernacular Paleography'' (Center for Renaissance Studies, Newberry Library, Chicago, et Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles) for French palaeography (since 2008). He is president of the International Committee for Latin Palaeography (2015-2020), member of the Hebrew paleography Committee, former secretary (2002-2011) and former president (2014) of the

Société de l'histoire de France The Société de l'histoire de France (SHF) (English: ''Society of the History of France'') was established on 21 December 1833 at the instigation of the French minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot, in order to contribute to the renewa ...

, co-editor of the series ''Monumenta Palaeographica Medii Aevi'' (Brepols ; with Jean-Pierre Mahé and Élisabeth Lalou), member of the editorial boards of ''

Scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

'', ''Gazette du livre médiéval'', and the ''Ménestrel'' portal,Site Ménestrel
/ref> member of the reading committee of ''Scrineum Rivista'', and former editor of the ''

Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes The ''Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes'' is a journal dedicated to the study and use of medieval manuscripts. It was founded in 1839 and continues to provide bi-annual issues with articles and abstracts in French, English, and German. Star ...

'' journal.

Work

His research mainly concern the evolution of the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...

in its long term linguistic, technical, cognitive and cultural situations, from Roman inscriptions to digital typography. He contributed to the expertise of many manuscripts and other objects listed in public and private collections, and the restoration of the château du Bois-Orcan in Noyal-sur-Vilaine (registration of the chapel, 2008). He is preparing a catalog of calligraphic collections published by French up to 1815, preserved in European and American collections.

Books

* * * * Avec Laura Light, Script, New York, ''Les Enluminures'', series "Primer" (n° 9), 39 p. (, SUDOC 193836718)

Scientific editions

Articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Fiche
on the site of the École des Chartes {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Marc 21st-century French historians French palaeographers French archivists École Nationale des Chartes alumni Academic staff of the École Nationale des Chartes École pratique des hautes études alumni Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études Scientists from Newcastle upon Tyne 1963 births Living people