Marc Fumaroli
Marc Fumaroli (10 June 1932 – 24 June 2020) was a French historian and essayist who was widely respected as an advocate for French literature and culture. While born in Marseille, Fumaroli grew up in the Moroccan city of Fez, and served in the French army during the Algerian War.
Marc Fumaroli

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- Name
- Marc Fumaroli
- Born
- 10 June 1932
- Birthplace
- Marseille, France
- Died
- 24 June 2020
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Education
- Lycée Thiers
- Occupation
- Historian
- Known for
- Member of the Académie Française
- Full name
- Marc Jean Honoré Fumaroli.
- Nationality
- France.
- Honours
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms, Rome Prize, Balzan Prize, honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense and Honorary doctor of the University of Bologna.
- Languages
- French and English.
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Documentary summary
Marc Fumaroli (10 June 1932 – 24 June 2020) was a French historian and essayist who was widely respected as an advocate for French literature and culture. While born in Marseille, Fumaroli grew up in the Moroccan city of Fez, and served in the French army during the Algerian War.
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Authority files
gnd · 1304703320 · wikidata · Q558114 · wikipedia · Marc Fumaroli
In this article
Biography
Biography
Marc Fumaroli studied at Lycée Thiers, Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV and Aix-Marseille University. The recorded working language is French and English. Employment is recorded with Collège de France, University Lille-III and Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV. Positions recorded include president and seat 6 of the Académie française. Distinctions recorded are Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms, Rome Prize and Balzan Prize.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Marc Fumaroli • Born — 10 June 1932 • Birthplace — Marseille, France • Died — 24 June 2020 • Place of death — Paris, France • Education — Lycée Thiers • Alma Mater — Aix-Marseille University University of Paris • Occupation — Historian • Known for — Member of the Académie Française
Career
Career
Following his appointment to a chair in Seventeenth Century Studies at Paris-Sorbonne University (1980), he was elected to a Chair in Rhetoric and Society in Europe (16th and 17th century) at the Collège de France. He held it from 1986 to 2002, until mandatory retirement, and was an emeritus professor. He is acknowledged for the revival of Rhetoric as field of study of European culture, in a sharp move away from both structuralism and post-modernism. His pioneering work remains L'Âge de l'éloquence (1980). In 1994, as a Voltaire scholar, he gave (in French) the British Academy's Master-Mind Lecture.
In English
In English
• 2011: When the World Spoke French (Quand l'Europe parlait français), translated by Richard Howard (New York: New York Review of Books) • 2018: The Republic of Letters (La République des Lettres), translated by Lara Vergnaud (New Haven: Yale University Press)
Career and activity
Career and activity
He was employed by Collège de France, University Lille-III, Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV, Conservatoire national des Arts et Métiers and University of Lille. Recorded positions include president and seat 6 of the Académie française. He belonged to Académie Française, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, American Academy of Arts and Letters and American Philosophical Society.
Identity
Identity
Marc Fumaroli is recorded as having received Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms and Rome Prize. Recorded at birth as Marc Jean Honoré Fumaroli. Formation and teaching. Fumaroli studied at Lycée Thiers, Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV, Aix-Marseille University and University of Paris. The record notes the qualification doctorate.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1932
Marc Fumaroli born at Marseille.
2020
Marc Fumaroli died at 14th arrondissement of Paris.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Marseille.
Birth place
14th arrondissement of Paris.
Death place
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Marc Fumaroli received Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms, Rome Prize, Balzan Prize, honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense and Honorary doctor of the University of Bologna.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Marc Fumaroli (1932-2020), Revue de l'art, 2021
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2021
- Message de Marc Fumaroli de l’Académie française, François de Dainville, 2004
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2004
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q558114: Marc Fumaroli
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Marc Fumaroli”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1304703320, Penser avec Marc Fumaroli (Veranstaltung : 2021 : Paris).
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Awards
Fumaroli was elected to the Académie Française on 2 March 1995 and became its director. He was also a member of the Académie des Inscriptions, the sister academy devoted to high erudition. In 2000, Fumaroli delivered the annual A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts. A year later, he received the prestigious Balzan Prize for literary history and criticism. Fumaroli was a foreign member of the British Academy and of the American Philosophical Society. He was also a member of the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought. Fumaroli was promoted to commander of the French Legion of Honor in 2008, after previously being named chevalier in 1993 and officer in 2002. After his death, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron praised Fumaroli as one of the country's greatest ever storytellers and historians.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Marc Fumaroli (1932-2020), Revue de l'art, 2021Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Verifiedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1304703320, Penser avec Marc Fumaroli (Veranstaltung : 2021 : Paris).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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