Claude Lepelley (8 February 1934 – 31 January 2015
on DRACONTIUS) was a 20th-21st-century French historian, a specialist of

late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

and

North Africa during Antiquity The history of North Africa during the period of classical antiquity (c. 8th century BCE – 5th century CE) can be divided roughly into the history of Egypt in the east, the history of ancient Libya in the middle and the history of Numidia and M ...

. His thesis, ''Les cités de l'Afrique romaine au Bas-Empire'', defended in 1977 under the direction of

William Seston William Seston (2 June 1900 – 2 October 1983) was a 20th-century French historian and epigrapher, a specialist of the history of the Roman Empire. He was professor at the Sorbonne and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettre ...

, profoundly changed the understanding of the urban world in the 3rd and 4th centuries; far from declining, the cities of Africa had some prosperity.

Career

After his secondary education at

lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne () is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Je ...

, he was received at the 1957 agrégation of history in 1957 and appointed to the University of Tunis between 1957 and 1959 before he did his military service in Algeria between November 1959 and January 1962. In Algiers, in particular, he was responsible for school education and participated in the development of a first handbook. Meanwhile, he took a stand against the

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Army Organisation") was a far-right dissident French paramilitary and terrorist organisation during the Algerian War, founded in 1961 by Raoul Salan, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques S ...

and wrote and distributed leaflets denouncing the abuses in the place to '' Le Canard Enchainé'', which published his testimony. Back in France, he was an assistant at the

Faculté des lettres de Paris The Faculty of Humanities of Paris (in French: ''Faculté des Lettres de Paris''), commonly known as the ''Sorbonne'', was one of the four faculties of the University of Paris, refounded in 1896, and an independent entity from 1808 to 1896, based ...

(1962–1967), ''

maître de conférences The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the France, French higher education system. Most academic institutions are state-run and most academics with permanent positions are French Civil Service, civil servants, and thus are Academic tenur ...

'' at the University of Amiens (1967–1970) and the University of Lille III and a professor after he defended his thesis in 1977. He was professor and later ''

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

'' professor at

Paris West University Nanterre La Défense Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most pres ...

. President of the "Institut des études augustiniennes" between 1987 and 2000, he was also responsible for the 'Centre de recherches sur l’Antiquité tardive et le Haut Moyen-Âge'. He actively contributed to the creation of the inaugurated in 1998. A member of the

Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques The Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS) (''Committee for Historic and Scientific Works'') is a French research institution created by the Minister of Public Education François Guizot on 18 July 1834 for the purpose of 'leading ...

(Cths) in 1982, before becoming its secretary in 1992, a member of the Société des Antiquaires de France of which he was president in 2003 and president of the "Société française d’études épigraphiques sur Rome et le monde romain", Claude Lepelley was also publishing director of the series "Nouvelle Clio" from 1992 to 2008. His research focused on the

history of christianity The history of Christianity began with the life of Jesus, an itinerant Jewish preacher and teacher, who was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified in Jerusalem . His followers proclaimed that he was the Incarnation (Christianity), incarnation of Go ...

and late Antiquity.

Works

*1969: ''L'empire romain et le christianisme'',

Groupe Flammarion Groupe Flammarion () is a French publishing group, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops ( La Hune and Flammarion Center). Flammarion ...

, Questions d'histoire *1973: (eds.) : ''Christianisme et pouvoirs politiques'', Lille, Presses Universitaires de Lille *1979
''Les cités de l'Afrique romaine au Bas-Empire, tome I : La permanence d'une civilisation municipale''
Institut des études augustiniennes, collection des études augustiniennes *1981: ''Les cités de l'Afrique romaine au Bas-Empire, tome II : Notices d'histoire municipale'', Institut des études augustiniennes, collection des études augustiniennes * 1983 : (eds.) : ''Les Lettres de saint Augustin découvertes par Johannes Divjak (communications présentées au colloque des 20 et 21 septembre 1982)'', Institut des études augustiniennes *1993: (eds. with P. Veyriras) : ''Newman et l'histoire'', Presses Universitaires de Lyon *1996: (eds. with A. Chastagnol & S. Demougin) : ''« Splendissima civitas ». Études d'histoire romaine à la mémoire de François Jacques'', Publications de la Sorbonne *1996: (dir.) : ''La fin de la cité antique et le début de la cité médiévale de la fin du IIIe à l'avènement de Charlemagne'', Bari, Edipuglia, 1996. *1998: (dir.) : ''Rome et l'intégration de l'empire. Tome II : Approches régionales de Haut-Empire romain'', Paris, PUF, Nouvelle Clio *2000: (eds. with X. Dupuis) : ''Frontières et limites géographiques de l'Afrique du Nord antique : hommage à Pierre Salama'', Publications de la Sorbonne *2001: ''Aspects de l'Afrique romaine. Les cités, la vie rurale, le christianisme'', Bari, Edipuglia, collection ofarticles. *2001: ''Les chrétiens et l'Empire romain : persécutions, polémique et apologétique'', chapter VIII of ''Histoire du christianisme'', Paris, Desclée de Brouwer *2004: « Une inscription d'Heraclea Sintica (Macédoine) récemment découverte, révélant un rescrit de l'empereur Galère restituant ses droits à la cite », ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 146 *2007: « Saint Augustin et le rayonnement de sa pensée », chapitre VI de lHistoire du christianisme'', Paris, Le Seuil. *2010: ''Saint Augustin : le passeur des deux rives'', Éditions d'Orbestier, collective work. This book brings together the endeavour of the leading specialists in Saint Augustine, including Claude Lepelley, and follows a symposium held in 2003 at

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside resort and port on the Atlantic coast of western France. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loi ...

with the support of

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in the context of the Year of Algeria in France. *2010: (dir.) : ''La nouvelle Carte des voies romaines de l’Est de l’Africa dans l’Antiquité Tardive d’après les travaux de P. Salama'' (Direction with Noël Duval and Jehan Desanges), Turnhout, Brepols

Bibliography

* Inglebert (Hervé), éd., ''Idéologies et valeurs civiques dans le monde romain : hommage à Claude Lepelley'', Paris, Picard, 2002. Un volume d'hommages; includes a detailed bibliography of Claude Lepelley.

References

External links

Claude Lepelley
on Babelio (with picture)

on CAIRN
In memoriam : Claude Lepelley (1934-2015)
on Brepolsonline {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepelley, Claude 1934 births 2015 deaths People from Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne French scholars of Roman history 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians Academic staff of Tunis University