Gautier, Léon

Léon Gautier, in full Émile-théodore-léon Gautier, (born Aug. 8, 1832, Le Havre, France—died Aug. 25, 1897, Paris), literary historian who revived an interest in early French literature with his translation and critical discussion of the Chanson de Roland (1872) and with his research on the chansons de geste.

In Paris in 1859, Gautier became keeper of the imperial archives and of the archives of the département of Haute-Marne. In 1871 he became professor of paleography at the École des Chartres, the school in which he had been educated (1852–55). He was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1887 and became chief of the historical section of the national archives in 1893. His works include Les Épopées françaises, 3 vol. (1886–88; “The French Epics,” 2nd ed., 5 vol., 1878–97, with a bibliography of chansons de geste).