Olivier Rayet (23 September 1847, Le Cairou – 19 February 1887,

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 ...

) was a French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. From 1866 he studied

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and ancient history at the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in Paris, where he was a pupil of Ernest Desjardins, his future father-in-law. In 1869 he obtained 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 history and became a member of the French School at Athens. From 1876 he taught classes in

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

and Greek archaeology at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

, and three years later, began teaching courses in

ancient art Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the Advanced culture, advanced cultures of History of society, ancient societies with different Writing system, forms of writing, such as those of Ancient China, China, Ancient India, India ...

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 ...

, succeeding Paul Foucart, a professor of

, who had recently been named director of the French School at Athens. In 1884 he succeeded François Lenormant as chair of archaeology at the

Bibliothèque nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

in Paris.Rayet, Olivier
INHA Theseus Minotauros Louvre MNC675

In 1873 he directed excavations in

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

and

Didyma Didyma (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the Ancient ...

that were financed by Gustave and Edmond de Rothschild. During the 1870s, he enriched the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

with some of the finest early examples of Tanagra figurines.

Published works

* ''Le temple d'Apollon Didyméen'', 1876 – The Temple of Apollo (Didyma). * ''Milet et le golfe Latmique'', 1877–85, with Albert Thomas (2 volumes) –

and the Latmian Gulf. * ''Études d'archéologie et d'art'', 1888, with Salomon Reinach – Studies of archaeology and art. * ''Histoire de la céramique grecque'', 1888, with

Maxime Collignon Léon-Maxime Collignon (8 November 1849 in Verdun – 15 October 1917 in Paris) was a French archaeologist who specialized in ancient Greek art and ancient Greek architecture, architecture. Biography From 1868 he studied at the École norma ...

– History of Greek ceramics.IDREF.fr
bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayet, Olivier 1847 births 1887 deaths Academic staff of the Collège de France French art historians French archaeologists People from Lot (department)