Jacqueline de Romilly

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Jacqueline Worms de Romilly (born March 26, 1913) is a French philologist

[edit] Biography

Born in Chartres, she studied at lycée Molière where she was lauréate of the Concours général de latin and second prize in Greek in 1930, the first year when girls could compete. She then prepared for the École Normale Supérieure at lycée Louis-le-Grand. She entered ENS Ulm in the class of 1933. She then passed the agrégation of classic letters in 1936, and became doctor of letters in 1947.

After having taught for a time in a school, she became a professor at the university of Lille then at the Sorbonne (from 1957 to 1973). She then obtained the chair of Greek and the formation of moral and political thought at Collège de France — the first woman nominated to this prestigious institution. In 1988, she was the second woman (after Marguerite Yourcenar) to enter the Académie française : she was elected to chair n°7, previously occupied by André Roussin. In 1995, she obtained Greek nationality and was nominated ambassador of hellinism by the Greek government in 2000.