{{Short description|French historian (1923–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}} '''Jean Léon Marie Delumeau''' (18 June 1923 – 13 January 2020) was a French historian specializing in the history of the [[Catholic Church]], and author of several books regarding the subject.<ref>{{cite web|title=Disparition de Jean Delumeau, grand historien du christianisme|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/disparition-de-jean-delumeau-grand-historien-du-christianisme-20200114|author=Jacques de Saint Victor|website=lefigaro.fr|language=fr|date=14 January 2020}}</ref> He held the Chair of the History of Religious Mentalities (1975–1994) at the [[Collège de France]] (former emeritus professor) and was a member of the [[Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aibl.fr/fr/membres/academ/delumeau.html |title=DELUMEAU Jean, Léon, Marie, Joseph, André |work=Membres de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |publisher=[[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]] |access-date=29 October 2010 |archive-date=13 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313155710/http://www.aibl.fr/fr/membres/academ/delumeau.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Life and career== Jean Léon Marie Delumeau was born in [[Nantes]] on 18 June 1923<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Jean-Delumeau-historien-lenfer-paradis-mort-2020-01-13-1201071442 |title = Jean Delumeau, historien de l'enfer et du paradis, est mort|newspaper = La Croix|date = 13 January 2020}}</ref> and obtained his early education in several Catholic boarding schools.<ref name=nm/> In 1943 he entered the [[École normale supérieure (Paris)|École Normale Supérieure]], and he later studied at the École Française de Rome, where [[Fernand Braudel]] was one of his mentors.<ref name=nm>{{cite book|author=Nelson H. Minnich|title=Journeys in Church History: Essays from the Catholic Historical Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8-nDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|year=2015|publisher=CUA Press|isbn=978-0-8132-2834-1|pages=53}}</ref> He taught history at [[École Polytechnique]], [[University of Rennes 2]], and [[University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Jean Dolumeau|url=https://www.babelio.com/auteur/Jean-Delumeau/14713|website=babelio.com|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=L'historien des religions Jean Delumeau est mort|url=https://next.liberation.fr/livres/2020/01/14/mort-de-l-historien-des-religions-jean-delumeau_1772986|author=Robert Maggiori|website=liberation.fr|language=fr|date=14 January 2020}}.</ref>
He was <!-- debatable translation: seconded to the [[National Center for Scientific Research]] (1954–1955),--> director of the Armorican Center for Historical Research (1964–1970), director of studies at the [[École pratique des hautes études]] (1963–1975) and at [[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences]] (1975–1978), and [[professor emeritus]] at the [[Collège de France]], where he occupied the chair of "History of Religious Mentalities in the Modern [[Western World]]" (1975–1994).<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=Jean Delumeau|url=http://www.college-de-france.fr/site/jean-delumeau/|website=college-de-france.fr|date=11 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jean Delumeau|url=http://el.enc.sorbonne.fr/mai68/index109.html|website=sorbonne.fr|language=fr}}</ref>
He was a member of the editorial board of several academic journals and a [[visiting professor]] at several universities in North America, Europe and Asia, and was also an honorary member of the ''[[Institut Universitaire de France]]'' and the [[Academia Europaea]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Jean Delumeau|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Delumeau_Jean|website=ae-info.org|language=fr}}.</ref>
On 26 February 1988, Delumeau was elected a member of the ''[[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]]'' in the chair of [[Georges Dumézil]].<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title=DELUMEAU Jean, Léon, Marie, Joseph, André|url=http://www.aibl.fr/membres/academiciens-depuis-1663/article/delumeau-jean-leon-marie-joseph|website=aibl.fr|date=15 February 2011}}</ref> He was given his ''épée d'académicien'' on 27 September 1989 by [[Philippe Wolff]]. During the ceremony, speeches were made by [[Nicole Lemaître]], [[Alain Cabantous]], [[Michel Mollat du Jourdin]], Wolff and himself.<ref>J. Delumeau, in ''Hommage à Jean Delumeau à l'occasion de son élection à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres'', 1990, {{p.|29-30}}.</ref> He was a candidate for the [[Académie française]] in 2002.<ref name=":0" />
===Later work, death, and legacy=== On 26 April 2017, he was one of the signatories of a forum of researchers and academics announcing that their support for [[Emmanuel Macron]] in the first round of the [[2017 French presidential election]] and calling to vote for him the second, in particular because of his commitment to higher education and research.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nous, universitaires et chercheurs, tenons à manifester notre soutien à Emmanuel Macron|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/04/26/nous-universitaires-et-chercheurs-tenons-a-manifester-notre-soutien-a-emmanuel-macron_5117978_3232.html|newspaper=Le Monde.fr|date=26 April 2017}}</ref> Delumeau died on 13 January 2020 in [[Brest, France|Brest]].<ref>{{cite web|title=L'historien Jean Delumeau est décédé|url=https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/l-historien-jean-delumeau-est-decede-13-01-2020-2357498_23.php|website=Le Point|language=fr|date=13 January 2020|access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=L'historien rennais Jean Delumeau est mort|url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/culture/l-historien-rennais-jean-delumeau-est-mort-6687765|author=François Vercelletto|website=ouest-france.fr|language=fr|date=13 January 2020}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Jean-Delumeau-historien-lenfer-paradis-mort-2020-01-13-1201071442|title=Jean Delumeau, historien de l'enfer et du paradis, est mort|last=Giuliani|first=Emmanuelle|date=13 January 2020|language=fr|newspaper=La Croix}}</ref>
Delumeau has been described as "one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called [[history of mentalities]]" by {{ill|Vingtième Siècle : Revue d'histoire|fr|Vingtième Siècle : Revue d'histoire}}, a French historical journal<ref>[https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_VIN_107_0145--jean-delumeau-historian-of-fear-and.htm Jean Delumeau, Historian of Fear and Sin], ''Vingtième Siècle : Revue d'histoire''</ref>
==Awards and honors== Delumeau was an honorary member of the [[Observatoire du patrimoine religieux]], a multi-faith association that works to preserve and promote French cultural heritage.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Candidatures au fauteuil de M. Léopold Sédar Senghor (F16)|url=http://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/candidatures-au-fauteuil-de-m-leopold-sedar-senghor-f16-1|website=academie-francaise|language=fr}}</ref> He was also a member of the sponsorship committee of the [[Coordination pour l'éducation à la non-violence et à la paix]].<ref>{{cite web|title=La mémoire vive de Jean Delumeau|url=http://www.lavie.fr/debats/idees/la-memoire-vive-de-jean-delumeau-21-10-2015-67514_679.php|website=lavie.fr|language=fr|date=21 October 2015}}</ref>
He was made knight of the [[Legion of Honour]] on 28 Octobre 1978, promoted to officier on 31 December 1989,<ref>{{cite web |title=ORDRE DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR Décret du 31 décembre 1989 portant promotion et nomination |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX8910546D |access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref> and to commander on 31 December 1999.<ref>{{cite web |title=Décret du 31 décembre 1999 portant promotion |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX9903891D |access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref> He was made officer of the [[Ordre national du Mérite]] on 19 November 1995 and promoted to commander on 7 May 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=Décret du 7 mai 2007 portant promotion et nomination |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX0710152D |access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref> He was also a commander of both the [[Ordre des Palmes académiques]]<ref name=":3" /> and the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]], the latter of which he was made on 24 November 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.siv.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/siv/rechercheconsultation/consultation/ir/pdfIR.action?irId=FRAN_IR_026438|title= Culture; Cabinet et services rattachés au Ministre; Cabinet; Bureau Cabinet (1962-2000)|work= Archives des nominations et promotions dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres|date=2002}}</ref>
Delumeau received honorary degrees from the [[University of Porto]] in 1984, the [[University of Sherbrooke]] in 1986, the [[University of Liège]] in 1992, the [[University of Deusto]] (1996), and the [[University of Bucharest]] in 2011.<ref name=":3" />
He received the [[Grand prix Gobert]] for his book ''La civilisation de la Renaissance'' (1968),<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Jean Delumeau|url=http://www.academie-francaise.fr/jean-delumeau|website=academie-francaise.fr|language=fr}}</ref> the 1975 [[Prix Thiers]] for his book ''Rome'',<ref name=":1" /> the 1977 Prix Monseigneur Marcel for his book ''La civilisation de la Renaissance'',<ref name=":1" /> and the 1980 [[Prix Montyon]] for his book ''Histoire vécue du peuple chrétien''.<ref name=":1" /> He received the 1977 [[Grand prix catholique de littérature]] for his book ''Le Christianisme va-t-il mourir?''.<ref name=":2" />
== Bibliography == * Collective, ''Homo Religiosus. Autour de Jean Delumeau'', Paris, Fayard, 1997.[https://books.google.com/books/about/Homo_religiosus.html?id=tOAxnQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y]. {{access-date|20 July 2025}} * Collective, ''Le fait religieux'', édité par Jean Delumeau, [[Fayard]], Paris, 2014, 782 p., {{isbn|9782213675237}}, front cover Google Books : [https://books.google.fr/books?id=axYRmSXiQ9cC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr]. {{access-date|20 July 2025}}. * {{cite book |first=Jean |last=Delumeau|title=Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire|location=London|publisher=Burns & Oates|year=1977|url=https://archive.org/details/catholicismbetwe0000delu/page/n9/mode/2up}} * {{cite book |first=Jean |last=Delumeau|title=Sin and Fear: The Emergence of a Western Guilt Culture, 13th–18th Centuries|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin’s Press|year=1990|url=https://archive.org/details/sinfearemergence00delu}} * {{cite book |author=[[Thomas Worcester]] |chapter=Jean Delumeau (1923-) |editor1=Daileader, Philip |editor2=Whalen, Philip |title=French Historians, 1900-2000: New Historical Writing in Twentieth-Century France |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Ltd |isbn=978-1-4051-9867-7 |date=2010}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDB name|4131985}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Delumeau, Jean}} [[Category:École normale supérieure (Paris) alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the Collège de France]] [[Category:Academic staff of Rennes 2 University]] [[Category:Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]] [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Nantes]] [[Category:French male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Place of death missing]] [[Category:French historians of religion]] [[Category:20th-century French historians]] [[Category:21st-century French historians]] [[Category:21st-century French male writers]] [[Category:20th-century French male writers]]