Jean-Pierre Vernant (; January 4, 1914 – January 9, 2007) was a French
resistant,
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 species; as well as the ...
and
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
, specialist in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
. Influenced by
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...
, Vernant developed a
structuralist approach to Greek
myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
,
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
, and society which would itself be influential among classical scholars. He was an honorary professor at the
Collège de France
The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
.
Biography
Born in
Provins
Provins () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and importance througho ...
, France, Vernant at first studied philosophy, receiving his
agrégation
In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education
A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...
in this field in 1937.
A member of the Young Communists (''Jeunes Communistes''), Vernant joined the
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
during World War II and was a member of ''
Libération-sud
''Libération-sud'' ( French for "Liberation-South") was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage a ...
'' (founded by
Emmanuel d'Astier). He later commanded the
French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior (FFI; ) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as F ...
(FFI) in
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...
under the pseudonym of "Colonel Berthier." He was a
Companion of the Liberation. After the war, he remained a member of the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
until 1969.
He entered the
Centre national de la recherche scientifique
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...
(CNRS) in 1948 and, under the influence of
Louis Gernet, turned to the study of ancient Greek anthropology. Ten years later, he became director of studies at the
École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). In 1971 he was professor in the
University of São Paulo
The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil.
The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...
. This visit was also an act of protest that he made with
François Châtelet against the
brazilian military government (dictatorship).
He was a member of the French sponsorship committee for the
. He supported the funding organisation ''Non-Violence XXI.''
He was awarded the CNRS gold medal in 1984. In 2002, he received an honorary doctorate at the
University of Crete.
Vernant died a few days after his 93rd birthday in
Sèvres
Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...
.
After his death, his name was given to a French highschool in Sèvres, le "Lycée Jean-Pierre Vernant".
Influence
The structuralist approach pioneered by Vernant has been influential on a wide range of classical scholars. More specifically, Vernant's reading of the myth of
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...
was an important influence on philosopher
Bernard Stiegler's book, ''
Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus''.
Criticism
Vernant's approach has been heavily criticized, particularly among Italian philologists, even by those of Marxist tendencies. He has been accused of a fundamentally
ahistorical approach, allegedly going as far as to manipulate his sources by describing them in categories which do not apply (
polysemy
Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a Sign (semiotics), sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word h ...
and ambiguity).
[ Vincenzo Di Benedetto, ''La tragedia greca di Jean-Pierre Vernant'', in: ''Belfagor'' 32 (1977), p. 461-468; see also Vincenzo Di Benedetto, ''L'ambiguo nella tragedia greca: una categoria fuorviante'', in: '' Euripide "]Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...
", introd. di V. Di Benedetto, trad. di E. Cerbo'', p. 62-75, Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
1997.
Awards
Honours
* Commander of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
* Grand Cross of the
Ordre national du Mérite
The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
*
Compagnon de la Libération
*
Croix de Guerre
The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
* Officier of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
* Commander of the
Order of the Phoenix (Greece)
The Order of the Phoenix () is an Order (decoration), order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republicanism, republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Order of George I, Royal Order of George I.
T ...
Awards and prizes
* 1980 : Amic Award of the
Académie Française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
(France)
* 1984 :
Médaille d'or du CNRS (France)
* 1991 : Gold Medal of History (San Marino)
* 1993 : Award for Humanistic Studies of the
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other F ...
(USA)
Honorary degrees
*
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
*
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
*
Masaryk University
Masaryk University (MU) (; ) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno, it now consists of ten faculties and 35,115 students. It is named after To ...
of
Brno
Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
*
University of Naples
The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
*
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
*
University of Crete (2002)
*
New Bulgarian University (2004)
Other awards
* Associate member of the
Académie royale de Belgique
* Foreign honorary member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
* Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
* Honorary Member of the
Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
* Membre de l'
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
Select publications
* ''Les origines de la pensée grecque'' (Paris), 1962 (= ''Origins of Greek Thought'', 1982)
* ''Mythe et pensée chez les Grecs: Etudes de psychologie historique'' (Paris), 1965 (= ''Myth and Thought among the Greeks'', 1983)
* With
Pierre Vidal-Naquet
Pierre Emmanuel Vidal-Naquet (; 23 July 193029 July 2006) was a French historian who began teaching at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in 1969.
Vidal-Naquet was a specialist in the study of Ancient Greece, but was als ...
: ''Mythe et tragédie en Grèce ancienne'', 2 vols. (Paris), 1972, 1986 (= ''Tragedy and Myth in Ancient Greece'', 1981; ''Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece'', 1988)
* ''Mythe et société en Grèce ancienne'' (Paris), 1974 (= ''Myth and Society in Ancient Greece'', 1978)
* ''Divination et rationalité'', 1974
* With
Marcel Detienne: ''Les ruses de l'intelligence: La mètis des Grecs'' (Paris), 1974 (= ''Cunning Intelligence in Greek Culture and Society'', 1977)
* ''Religion grecque, religions antiques'' (Paris), 1976
* ''Religion, histoires, raisons'' (Paris), 1979
* With Marcel Detienne: ''La cuisine de sacrifice en pays grec'' (Paris), 1979 (= ''Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks'', 1989)
* With Pierre Vidal-Naquet: ''Travail et esclavage en Grèce ancienne'' (Brussels), 1988
* ''L'individu, la mort, l'amour: soi-même et l'autre en Grèce ancienne'' (Paris), 1989
* ''Mythe et religion en Grèce ancienne'' (Paris), 1990
* ''Figures, idoles, masques'' (Paris), 1990
* With Pierre Vidal-Naquet: ''La Grèce ancienne'', 3 vols. (Paris), 1990–92
* ''Mortals and Immortals: Collected Essays'' (Princeton), 1991
* With Pierre Vidal-Naquet: ''Œdipe et ses mythes'' (Brussels), 1994
* ''Entre mythe et politique'' (Paris), 1996
* With
Jean Bottéro and
Clarisse Herrenschmidt: ''L'orient ancien et nous'' (Paris), 1996.
Ancestor of the West: Writing, Reasoning, and Religion in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Greece', translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan. University of Chicago Press, 2000. .
* With Françoise Frontisi-Ducroux: ''Dans l'œil du miroir'' (Paris), 1997
* ''
L'univers, les dieux, les hommes: récits grecs des origines'' Paris, Le Seuil, 1999 (= ''The Universe, The Gods, and Men: Ancient Greek Myths'', 2001)
* ''La traversée des frontières'' (Paris), 2004
References
External links
''Independent'' obituaryby
Oswyn Murray
Page with biographical information, French languageCitation for Oxford honorary degreeCouncil of Europe pageLinks to online interviews and media presentations by Vernant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernant, Jean-Pierre
1914 births
2007 deaths
People from Provins
Academic staff of the Collège de France
Historians of antiquity
French classical scholars
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
Lycée Carnot alumni
Academic staff of the University of São Paulo
Members of Liberation-Sud
Members of Academia Europaea
Companions of the Liberation
French hellenists
French anthropologists
20th-century French historians
Academic staff of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences
Communist members of the French Resistance
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Corresponding fellows of the British Academy
Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Commanders of the Legion of Honour
Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
20th-century French anthropologists