Loading AI tools
French Indologist (1926–1997) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Varenne (12 June 1926 – 12 July 1997) was a French Indologist and a prominent figure of the Nouvelle Droite. He taught Sanskrit at the Aix-Marseille University, then at Jean Moulin University Lyon 3, where he was eventually nominated professor emeritus. Varenne has also been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, and at other universities in India, Cambodia and Mexico.[1]
Jean Varenne | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 12 June 1926 Marseille, France |
| Died | 12 July 1997 (aged 71) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Indologist |
Jean Varenne was born on 12 June 1926 in Marseille, Provence.[2][1] He attended Lycée Thiers, then Aix-Marseille University and the University of Paris, earning a PhD in Sanskrit studies at the École des Hautes Études. Varenne was a member of the French School of the Far East, and taught in India and Cambodia.[1]
In 1962, he received a teaching position at Aix-Marseille,[1] where he founded the Department of Indian Studies in the early 1960s.[3] Varenne also worked as a visiting professor at El Colegio de México and at the University of Chicago in the second part of the 1960s.[4][1]
In 1974, Varenne joined the patronage committee of Nouvelle École, a review published by GRECE, an ethno-nationalist think tank led by Alain de Benoist.[3] He quit his teaching position at Aix-Marseille in 1980,[1] and co-founded with Jean Haudry and Jean-Paul Allard the "Institute of Indo-European Studies" (IEIE) at the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 the same year.[5] He was appointed professor of Sanskrit philology, Indian civilization and history of religions at Lyon 3 in 1981.[1][3] Varenne was also involved with the neo-fascist magazine Défense de l'Occident, led by Maurice Bardèche.[6]
During the 1980s, Varenne directed the series "Le Monde Indien" in the prestigious publishing house Les Belles Lettres, and he founded the Belles Lettres collection "Études Indo-Européennes" in 1987.[7] He served as the president of GRECE from 1984 to 1987,[3][8] and was also a member of the Institute of Formation of the Front National (FN) of Jean-Marie Le Pen.[9] In 1990, he was nominated to the "Scientific Council" of the FN.[10]
At the end of his life, Varenne was working on an Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religions; only articles on Hinduism were published at the time of his death on 12 July 1997.[1][2]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
