Louis Gernet (28 November 1882 – 29 January 1962) was a Frenchphilologist andsociologist.
A student at theÉcole Normale Supérieure (class of 1902), he received alicentiate in law andagrégation in grammar. In 1917, supported by theFondation Thiers, he received his doctorate in letters with a dissertation entitled "Researches on the development of legal and moral thought in Greece".
For a long time he led a modest academic career, devoted to teaching Greek at theUniversity of Algiers. In 1948, at the age of 66, he went to the seminary of legal sociology at theÉcole Pratique des Hautes Études to teachancient Greek anthropology. From 1949 to 1961 he was editor of the journalL'Année sociologique, to which he also contributed under the heading "Legal and moral sociology".
In 1964, two years after Gernet's death, his pupilJean-Pierre Vernant founded theCentre Louis-Gernet, a centre for the comparative study of ancient societies which is attached to theÉcole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Gernet also translated and commented classical Greek works.
