Henri Breuil
| Henri Breuil | |
|---|---|
Henri Breuil in 1954
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| Native name | Abbé Breuil |
| Born |
28 February 1877 Mortain, Manche, France |
| Died | 14 August 1961 (aged 84) L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise, France |
| Residence | France |
| Fields | |
| Alma mater | Sorbonne |
Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil (28 February 1877 – 14 August 1961), often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist. He is noted for his studies of cave art in the Somme and Dordogne valleys as well as in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, China with Teilhard de Chardin, Ethiopia, British Somaliland, and especially Southern Africa.
Breuil was born at Mortain, Manche, France, and was the son of Albert Breuil, magistrate, and Lucie Morio De L'Isle.
He received his education at the Seminary of St. Sulpice and the Sorbonne and was ordained in 1900 but was given permission to pursue his research interests. He was a man of deep religious faith and learning. In 1904 Breuil had recognised that a pair of 13,000-year-old carvings of reindeer at the British Museum were in fact one composition. He assumed a post as lecturer at the University of Fribourg in 1905, and in 1910 became professor of prehistoric ethnology in Paris and at the Collège de France from 1925.
Breuil was a competent draughtsman, faithfully reproducing the cave paintings he encountered. In 1924 he was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. He published many books and monographs, introducing the caves of Lascaux and Altamira to the general public and becoming a member of the Institut de France in 1938.
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