Diehl, Charles Michel

Diehl, Charles Michel 

Born July 4, 1859, in Strasbourg; died Nov. 4, 1944, in Paris. French Byzantinist. Professor at the Sorbonne (1899-1934).

In 1910, Diehl was made a member of the French Academy of Inscriptions and in 1925 a foreign corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Diehl studied Byzantine archaeology and art history, the history of administrative organization, and political history. He refused to accept the negative evaluation of Byzantine culture which was characteristic of Byzantine studies during the 19th century and attempted to reveal the positive significance of Byzantine civilization. However, Diehl’s adherence to the opposite extreme of the prevailing view sometimes led him to idealize the art, law, and governmental structure of Byzantium.

WORKS

Etudes sur l’administration byzantine dans ‘exarchat de Ravenne (568-751). Paris, 1888.
Manuel de I’art byzantin, vols. 1–2. Paris 1925–26.
In Russian translation:
lustinian I vizantiiskaia tsivilizatsiia v VI v. St. Petersburg, 1908.
Vizantiiskie portrety, vol. 1, issues 1–2. Moscow, 1913–14.
Osnovnye problemy vizantiiskoi istorii. Moscow, 1947
Istoriia Vizantiiskoi imperii. Moscow, 1948.