A historian of religions, Jean Léon Marie Delumeau specializes in Western religious mentalities, and more specifically in Renaissance and Modern Christianity.A committed Christian, his work is dominated by one subject in particular : the feeling of fear. He coined the concept of " pastorale de la peur ", according to which the CatholicChurchdominates souls by emphasizing the unsettling aspects of Christianity for conversion purposes, and in 1983 published the best-selling Le Péché et la Peur.
Born on June 18 1923 in Nantes, he attended the Lycées Masséna in Nice and Thiers in Marseille, where his philosophy teacher was Roger Mehl. Delumeau pursued a career as a lycée, khâgne and university teacher, before becoming a professor at the Collège de France in 1975.
After preparing for the entrance exam to theÉcolenormale supérieure (ENS), Jean Delumeau was admitted to the ENS in 1943, and became agrégé in history in 1947. He was a member of theÉcolefrançaise de Rome from 1948 to 1950. Doctor of Letters in 1955, he taught history at theÉcolePolytechnique, the University of Rennes-II and the University of Paris-I.
Delumeau was subsequently appointed Director of Studies at theÉcolePratique des Hautes Études from 1963 to 1975, then at theÉcole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales from 1975 to 1978.
Appointed Professor at the Collège de France, he held the chair Histoire des mentalités religieuses dans l'Occident moderne for twenty years, until 1994, before becoming Honorary Professor of the Collège.
On February 26 1988, Jean Delumeau was elected member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, in the chair of Georges Dumézil.
Visiting professor at several universities, Jean Delumeau became one of the first professors at the French University College in Moscow in May 1992.
A member of the editorial board of several academic journals, Jean Delumeau has written numerous works (some translated into a dozen languages), including two major books : La Peur en Occident (XIVe-XVIIIe siècle) (1978) and Le Christianisme va-t-il mourir ? (1977 ). A great cultural historian, he is considered one of the leading Christian essayists of his time.
Jean Delumeau died on January 13 2020 in Brest.