Ferdinand-Eugène-Jean-Baptiste Brunot (6 November 1860 – 7 January 1938) was a French linguist and philologist, editor of the ground-breaking ''Histoire de la langue française des origines à 1900'' ("History of the French Language from its Origins to 1900"). Brunot was born in

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; , before 1999: ''Saint-Dié'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vosges department, Grand Est, northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is locat ...

. He found his first faculty position and published his first book from the ''Faculté des lettres de Lyon'', now the

Lumière University Lyon 2 Lumière University Lyon 2 () is one of the three universities that comprise the current University of Lyon system, having splintered from an older university of the same name, and is primarily based on two campuses in Lyon itself. It has a total ...

. In October 1891 he became a lecturer at the Sorbonne at the age of 31. Here he began his long collaboration with fellow linguist Louis Petit de Julleville and produced the first volume of his monumental History, dealing with medieval French. It would eventually stretch to nine volumes published in his lifetime, and 13 volumes altogether. He also published a standard French grammar, and several papers advocating simplified French spelling. Brunot served as mayor of the 14th arrondissement of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the difficult war years of 1914 through 1919, and served as dean of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

from 1919 through 1928 while engineering its significant expansion. He was appointed to the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

in 1925, later serving as its president, and was awarded the Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor in 1933. He died in Paris. One of the squares in Paris and one of its

fountains A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

, both in his home arrondissement, bear his name.

Sources

online biography (in French)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunot, Ferdinand 1860 births 1938 deaths Linguists from France French philologists Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique Deans of the Faculté des lettres de Paris