Born on June 1, 1902 in Nainville les Roches (Seine et Oise). Died on May 4, 1986.
Education and professional career
- Secondary studies at Lycée Hoche, Versailles, continued in 1919-1921 at Lycée Louis Le Grand, Paris.
- 1921-1924: Student at the École normale supérieure
- 1924: Agrégé des Lettres
- 1925: Reserve military service
- 1925-1928: Member of the École française de Rome (extended for a third year)
Two excavation missions in Algeria: 1926 in Bélezma, 1928 in Bône - 1928-1929: After a year's lectureship at Strasbourg's Lycée Kléber, he was appointed to replace André Piganiol in Roman history at Strasbourg's Faculté des Lettres; he remained in this position (as Senior Lecturer) until the war
- 1929-1946: seconded by the Services des Œuvres to teach (history) at the recently founded faculty in São Paulo, Brazil, remaining in this position until 1945; repatriated and reinstalled in Strasbourg in 1946
- 1946-1955: Regular lectures at the same Faculty
- 1955: Doctoral thesis defended at Paris Sorbonne, immediately awarded tenure in Strasbourg
- 1955-1972: Candidate for the Collège de France, to succeed André Piganiol, elected and appointed
Awards and distinctions
- 1961: Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
- Corresponding member of the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Letters, nominated by Professor Joseph Vogt (Tübingen)