Louis-Pierre Anquetil

Portrait of Louis-Pierre Anquetil

Louis-Pierre Anquetil (21 February 1723 – 6 September 1808) was a French historian.

Biography

He was born in Paris on 21 February 1723.Template:Sfn In 1741, he joined the religious community of the Génofévains, where he took holy orders and became professor of theology and literature.Template:Sfn Later, he became rector of the seminary at Reims, where he published the 3-volume "Civil and Political History of Reims" (Template:Langx), in 1756 and 1757.Template:Sfn In 1759, he was appointed prior of the abbey de la Roe in Anjou; shortly thereafter he became director of the college of Senlis.Template:Sfn While there, he composed a history of France in the 16th and 17th centuries (Template:Lang) published in 1767.Template:Sfn The year before, he had obtained the curacy or priory of Chateau-Renard near Montargis.Template:Sfn He also became a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

At the beginning of the French Revolution, he moved to the curacy of La Villette near Paris but, during the Reign of Terror, he was imprisoned at St-Lazare.Template:Sfn While there, he began his summary of world history (Template:Lang), afterwards published in nine volumes.Template:Sfn On the establishment of the National Institute, he was elected as a 2nd-class member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science.Template:Sfn He was also employed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Template:Sfn an experience which informed his treatment of the last three kings of the Ancient Regime (Template:Lang).Template:Sfn

He is said to have been asked by Napoleon to write his 14-volume "History of France" (Template:Lang, 1805). Augustin Thierry criticized the work as "cold and colourless", and mentioned that Anquetil compared unfavorably to other noted French historians.Template:Sfn The work was compiled at second or third handTemplate:Sfn and censurable in many respectsTemplate:Sfn but went through numerous editions and made Anquetil famous. It was continued by Adolphe Bouillet in 6 more volumes.Template:Sfn He died on 6 September 1808.Template:Sfn

His younger brother Abraham was a famous orientalist.

References

• Template:Cite CE1913
• Template:Cite EB9

Attribution:

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Further reading

• Template:Cite NIE