Born on 10 April 1938 in Mareuil-sur-Belle (Dordogne).
Education and professional career
- 1973-1976 : CNRS research associate, philosophy and history of science section
- 1975 : CNRS Bronze Medal
- 1976-1991 : Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Religious Studies Section
- 1984-1991 : Director, Centre d'études des religions du livre (CNRS, URA 152)
- 1991-2008 : Professor at the Collège de France, holder of the History of Syncretisms in Late Antiquity chair
- 1991 : Director of the Institute for the History of Eastern Christianity at the Collège de France
