Paul Thureau-Dangin

Born in Paris in 1837, Paul Thureau-Dangin became known as a historian, publicist, and member of the French intellectual world. He studied law, but he built his reputation through historical writing and public commentary rather than a legal career.

He is especially remembered for writing about the reign of Louis-Philippe and about the 19th-century revival of Catholic thought in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. In 1893 he was elected to the Académie française, where he later served as its perpetual secretary, a sign of the esteem he earned in French literary and scholarly life.

Thureau-Dangin died in 1913. His books reflect a serious, thoughtful approach to history, with a particular interest in the meeting point of politics, religion, and modern society.