Fortuné Eugène Gabriel Millet, more commonly known as Gabriel Millet, was born onApril17 1867 in Saint-Louis-du-Sénégal, where his father, a marine infantry colonel, was garrisoned. Orphaned at 18 months, he was brought back to France, where his grandmother took charge of his education. He began his studies in Nice, then continued them in Paris. After two years as maître auxiliaire at the Lycée Saint-Louis, followed by two years at the Lycée Henri-IV, he was agrégé d'histoire in 1891.
Hewas a member of the École française d'Athènes between October 1891 and October 1895, then a member hors cadre until December 1899, and carried out several missions in Italy, Turkey, Russia and Greece, notably to Mount Athos. FromDecember7 1899, he was appointed lecturer at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Religious Studies section. From this date onwards, he brought his personal documents into the establishment, and set up what he called the " Christian and Byzantine Collection", representing a collection of three thousand photographic plates, watercolors, prints on paper, reproductions of objects and various plans, and which was subsequently enlarged thanks to donations. For two years, he taught a lecture entitled " History of the Christian Church ", then " Christian literature and history of the Church " until 1907. On this date, Gabriel Millet became assistant director of studies for this section, then director of studies onFebruary14 1914. His lecture was entitled " Byzantine Christianity and Christian archaeology ", until his retirement in 1937. He undertook numerous archaeological missions, visiting Serbia, Greece and Yugoslavia on several occasions. He was asked to accompany the French army to the Orient, and subsequently deposited five thousand photographs in the archives of the Armée d'Orient.
He received his doctorate in 1917, with two theses, which were delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. His main thesis was entitled Recherches sur l'iconographie de l'Évangile aux XIVe, XVe et XVIe centuries, and was illustrated by six hundred and seventy drawings produced by his wife Sophie Millet, who accompanied him on his missions. His complementary thesis is entitled L'École grecque dans l'architecture byzantine.
The presidential decree ofMay20 1926 appointed him full professor of the Chair of Aesthetics and History of Art at the Collège de France, effectiveNovember1 . He held this position until his retirement in 1937, when he was appointed Honorary Professor.
In the course of his career, Gabriel Millet was appointed to several academies, including the Académie des inscriptions et des belles-lettres in 1929, and to foreign universities. He was honorarydoctor of the University of Belgrade, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary member of the Romanian Academy.
Gabriel Millet died onMay8 1953 in Paris.
Notice written by Marc Verdure (Collège de France - Institute of Civilizations).