Lenormand, Charles

Charles Lenormand was born in 1802 in Paris. After completing his studies at the Lyceum of Charlemagne and the Lyceum of Napoleon, he could become a lawyer, but his travels to Italy and Sicily (1822-23) made him an archeologist enthusiast. In 1825, he was appointed a junior inspector of fine arts and in a few months he married Amelia Syvoct, a niece and foster daughter of the famous Madame Recamier . He visited Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands , and accompanied Champollion to Egypt , where he devoted himself to the study of architectural monuments. Later he traveled to Greece as an assistant director of the archaeological department of the scientific expedition to the Peloponnese . Upon his return, he was appointed curator of works of art at the Royal Library. Despite the fact that the subject of his department was modern history, his lectures were mainly devoted to ancient history, in particular the origin of Greek civilization. In 1836 he was appointed curator of the printed books of the Royal Library, and in 1839 he was elected a member of the Academy. In 1840 he became the curator of the Cabinet of medals. Francois Guizot , who became foreign minister in 1841, sent Lenormand on a mission to Greece. Upon returning from a trip, Lenormand continued his lectures at the Sorbonne , engaging in particular Christian civilization and its sources. These studies made him a believing Christian, and from that moment his lectures impressed with the depth of his Catholic faith. He stated his convictions in his Historical Issues ( Questions historiques Paris 1845), in his work Religious associations in Christian society ( Associations religionsie dans la société chrétienne Paris 1866), and in many articles in the French Catholic survey Correspondant . His writings had a tremendous impact on the widely discussed issue of freedom of teaching ( liberté d'enseignement ). In 1846, at the Sorbonne, in retaliation for his participation in the struggle for the department, Edgar Keene forced Lenormand to give up his professorship, after which he left the Correspondent editorial board. In 1848, he was appointed director of the commission of historical monuments, and in 1849, by an almost unanimous decision of the members of the Academy, he was appointed to the department of archeology at the Collège de France ^[6] . Since that time, he devoted himself entirely to the study of Egyptian archeology. He died during his third trip to Greece in November 1859.

His son Francois followed in the footsteps of his father.

The unexpected death of Lenorman shook Greece, where he was considered a philwellin . After the meeting of the municipal council, the mayor of Athens, Georgios Skoufos, offered to bury Lenormand's heart in a designated area in recognition of the ancient Platonov Academy in the municipality of Kolonos in Athens and near his old friend and admirer of the German poet Carl in recognition of his son, François Lenormant 1837–1883 Muller Upon obtaining the consent of his son, the heart of the archeologist was installed in marble hydria , which repeated the type of the similar ancient Greek, but with a relief of Lenormand's head on one of its sides. The original hydria was the work of a French sculptor. Today's hydria is a copy of the original and made by the Greek sculptor Michalis Tombros in 1936. ^{[7] [8] The} central street of the municipality of Kolonos was named after the archaeologist Lenormand ^[9] .

The wife of the deceased, in recognition of the Greek state, for the memory and honor rendered to the deceased, presented the Greek parliament with a picture from the collection of her relative Chateaubriand ^[10] .

Many of Lenormand's works were published in the following editions: Annales de l'Institut archéologique de Rome (Chronicles of the Archaeological Institute of Rome), the scientific journal Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions , which he directed from its creation (1843–1855), Revue de Numismatique ( Numismatic Review), and Correspondant . Among his main independent published works are:

• Contemporary Artists - Les Artistes contemporains (Paris, 1833, 2 vols.)
• Introduction to the History of Western Asia - Introduction à l'histoire de l'Asie occidentale (Paris, 1838)
• Museum of Egyptian Antiquities - Musée des Antiquités égyptiennes (Paris, 1842)
• History Questions - Questions historiques (Paris, 1845)

along with two huge collections:

• Numismatic and sculptural treasure - Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique (Paris, 1834–50) (in collaboration with Paul Delaroche and Louis-Pierre Henriquel-Dupont)
• Selection of ceramographic monuments Élite des monuments céramographiques (1844–58) (with Belgian archaeologist Jean de Witte).

• Jean de Witte, Annuaire de l'Académie de Belgique (Brussels, 1861). 129-86.
• Mémoires de l'Institut de France , XXXI, (Paris), p. 547-608.
• Based on text from F. Mayence.
•   This article contains text in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913), " Charles Lenormant ", Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company