Léon Fleuriot | |
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| Born | 5 April 1923 Morlaix, Brittany, France |
| Died | 15 May 1987(1987-05-15) (aged 64) Paris, France |
| Citizenship | French |
| Occupation | Linguist |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Paris |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Rennes 2,École pratique des hautes études |
Léon Fleuriot (5 April 1923 – 15 March 1987) was a French linguist andCeltic scholar, specializing inCeltic languages and the history of Gallo-Roman and Early MedievalBrittany.
Born inMorlaix, Brittany, in a family originating in the region ofQuintin and having studiedBreton in his youth, Fleuriot passed his university historyagrégation in 1950. He taught atlycées andcollèges in Paris and the surrounding suburbs, as well as at thePrytanée National Militaire inLa Flèche. He entered theCentre national de la recherche scientifique in 1958 and earned his doctorate at theSorbonne University in 1964, defending a thesis calledLe vieux-breton, éléments d'une grammaire (Old Breton, an Elementary Grammar), along with a complementary thesis,Dictionnaire des gloses en vieux-breton (Dictionary of Old BretonGlosses).
In 1966, Fleuriot was named chair ofCeltic studies at theUniversity of Rennes 2 – Upper Brittany inRennes, and at the same time as research director at theÉcole Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He contributed greatly to the growth of Breton language teaching at the university level.[citation needed]
Fleuriot's bookLes origines de la Bretagne defended a "two wave" model of British immigration into Brittany and argued that the legend ofKing Arthur arose from the life of Romano-British leaderAmbrosius Aurelianus, who was known in Gaul asRiothamus. Fleuriot came into conflict withFrançois Falc'hun's claim that Breton was essentially native Gaulish, only influenced by the incoming British language. However, he accepted that Breton had been influenced by surviving local forms of Celtic.[1]
Fleuriot died suddenly in Paris in 1987, aged 63, leaving much of his planned research unfinished.[citation needed]
A bibliography has been established byGwennole ar Menn inBretagne et pays celtiques, langues, histoire, civilisation (Skol, PUR, 1982), a collection of articles in honour of Léon Fleuriot.
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