Louis Léger (15 January 1843 – 30 April 1923) was a French writer and pioneer in

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

. He was honorary member of Bulgarian Literary Society (now

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

, also member of

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 Paris. Academic institutions in Saint-Petersburg, Belgrade and Bucharest had given him a different status of membership. Léger studied under

Aleksander Chodźko Aleksander Borejko Chodźko (30 August 1804 – 27 December 1891) was a Polish poet, Slavist, and Iranologist. Early life He was born in Krzywicze, in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) and attended the Imperial ...

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 ...

, whose position he eventually succeeded in 1885 by taking up the ''Slav Literature and Language'' chair of

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

, which he occupied until 1923. Léger claimed that those who had not lived during the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

could not possibly imagine the effect of Polish influence on French society. Léger helped translate various Polish works. His "A History of Austro-Hungary", first edition published in 1879 and last in 1920, was considered one of the best textbooks on the subject in any Western language. In 1916,

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...

and

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

founded the '' Comité national tchèque'' in Paris, and almost at the same time

Louis Eisenmann Louis Eisenmann (31 July 1869 – 14 May 1937) was a French historian and professor of Slavic studies. Born in Haguenau into a Jewish family, Eisenmann held a chair at the University of Dijon from 1905.Ernest Denis Ernest Denis (3 January 1849 – 4 January 1921) was a French historian. Biography Denis became known as a specialist in Germany and Bohemia, and played a major role in the establishment of the Czechoslovak state in 1918. Along with Louis ...

founded the ''Comité national d'études'', which also advocated for the independence of a Czech state. In 1918, the French government created

Czechoslovak legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

s, which represented a significant auxiliary force at a decisive phase of the war after Russia had made peace. On 28 October 1918, the

Republic of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Na ...

was proclaimed in Prague.Finis Austriae
radio.cz, 24/10/2007, accessed 29 July 2021

Works

* * ''La Crise autrichienne'', Paris, 1868 * ''Histoire de Autriche-Hongrie'', Paris, 1879 * ''Contes Populaires Slaves'', 1882 * * ''La Bulgarie'', Paris, 1885 * ''Nouvelles études slaves histoire et littérature'', 1886 * ''Russes et Slaves, études politiques et littéraires'', Hachette, 1890 * * ''Le monde slave, études politiques et littéraires'', Hachette, 1902 * ''Moscou'', 1910 * ''Nicolas Gogol'', 1913

Notes

External links

* Translators from Polish 1843 births 1923 deaths Writers from Toulouse Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences French male writers Academic staff of the Collège de France Members of the Ligue de la patrie française Cyrillo-Methodian studies {{france-nonfiction-writer-stub