"Antifascist activist in the 1930s, winner of the agrégation in philosophy in 1937, early Resistance fighter, leader of the FFI in the South-West Region in 1944, Compagnon de la Libération in 1946, anthropologist, Hellenist, professor at the Collège de France from 1975 to 1984, CNRS gold medalist in 1984, J.-P. Vernant (1914-2007) didn't like to remind us of his titles. He traversed his century with uncommon foresight, intelligence and commitment, constantly linking past and present in his work and thinking. A communist activist until 1970, a resolute anti-colonialist, a defender of Russian and Czech dissidents, he always combined solidarity with critical lucidity. A philosopher by training, he was the promoter of a historical psychology that led him to study the ancient Greek world and profoundly transform its traditional image. By questioning the Greeks from a comparative point of view, examining politics and religion, and myth in particular, he opened up new avenues of research. Vernant was a man of friendship, of groups, of collective endeavors; always available, welcoming, attentive, he was as much a public speaker as a storyteller, a rigorous writer and a perceptive reader: a liberating master, to use P. Vidal-Naquet's formula."
The tribute paid to him by BnF is organized around testimonies and projections that will attempt to restore the density and richness of this journey.
Day organized with the Centre Louis Gernet, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Collège de France, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the École Pratique des Hautes Études.
