Raymond Chevallier


Raymond Chevallier was a French historian, archaeologist and Latinist.
A former member of the École française de Rome, honorary president of the "Société française de Photogrammétrie et télédétection", he was a lecturer at the École pratique des hautes études, then teaching assistant and finally professor of Latin language and literature at the University of Tours. His seminar of historic topography and photo interpretation was attended by numerous French : R. Agache,, R. Goguey, D. Jalmain, L. Monguilan, etc. He specialized in the study of Roman roads and ancient traces by aerial photography.

Career and contributionsAfter a text and with autorisation of Robert Bedon.

Born in Bourg-en-Bresse in 1929 to a family of teachers, Raymond Chevallier entered the Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1950. After he passed his agrégation in letters and graduated from the Ecole pratique des hautes études IVth section in 1955, he left for the École française de Rome of which he was a member from 1956 to 1958, and soon became one of the specialists of ancient Northern Italy.
On his return to France, he served as an assistant to the Sorbonne, from 1958 to 1962, and then as assistant professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1963. He was then appointed to the Faculty of Letters at Tours, He spent the rest of his academic career there, first as an instructor, then as a professor of universities, for many years running the Institute of Latin Studies at this institution.
His indefatigable activity as a researcher led Raymond Chevallier to found and preside the André-Piganiol Research Center and to organize annually numerous symposia. Raymond Chevallier was a resident member of the Société des Antiquaires de France, which he presided over in 1997, and his international reputation earned him the distinction of becoming a correspondent of the Pontifical Academy of Archaeology in 1978 and member of the German Archaeological Institute in 1986. Several decorations over the years testified to the quality of his work.
His military service, carried out in the air force, revealed to him the interest of aerial photography for archaeological research and made him a very active emulator of the great precursors in this field, Father Antoine Poidebard and colonel. His career in the reserve led him to the rank of Colonel. It enabled him to keep abreast of the latest advances in technology and to perfect certain applications, such as the detection of traces of ancient cadastres, Roman roads or disappeared agglomerations. This field of research led him, from 1976 to 1980, to the presidency of the "Société française de photogrammétrie et télédétection".
Raymond Chevallier was a particularly prolific author. Some fifty books deal with his favorite subjects: Roman historians, ancient Northern Italy, independent and Roman Gaul, aerial photography and its archaeological applications, not to mention several volumes of the Que sais-je? series and a high volume of collaborative works. Hundreds of articles in French and foreign scholarly publications come in addition to these books, including Archéologia. He was also called upon to participate in the Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the Encyclopædia Universalis, and the Encyclopédie of the Pléiade. He made several photographic exhibitions on Ancient history, and gave numerous lectures both in France and abroad.
Died 30 November 2004 aged 75, Raymond Chevallier rests with his wife, in the cemetery of Belmont, in Ain.

Publications