Jacques Lacarrière

Jacques Lacarrière (2 December 1925 - 17 September 2005) was a French writer. He studied moral philosophy, classical literature and Hindu philosophy and literature. Professionally, he was also a prominent critic, journalist, and essayist. A passionate admirer of ancient Greece and its mythology, his essay "L'été grec" (Greek Summer) was an immense popular success, as were his following classical works "Maria of Egypt" and "Dictionnaire amoureux de la Grèce" (Dictionary for one who loves Greece). Of interest to ethnographers and ecologists is his "Chemin faisant: Mille kilomètres à pied à travers la France."

Lacarrière's 1973 literary essay, Les Gnostiques, is also well-respected for its insights into the early Christian religious phenomenon of Gnosticism.

For the whole of his work, he was awarded le Grand Prix de l'Académie française (the Great Prize of the French Academy.)

He died in Paris on 17 September 2005, following complications from orthopedic surgery.

Works

Translated into English

*"The God-Possessed", London: George Allen & Unwin LTD, 1963.
*"Men Possessed By God. The Story of the Desert Monks of Ancient Christendom", Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1964.
*"The Gnostics", San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1989.(ISBN 0872862437)
*"The Wisdom of Ancient Greece" (Wisdom Of Series), edited, NY: Abbeville Press, 1996. (ISBN 0789202433)

In French

* "Les Gnostiques", 1973, Idées Gallimard (rééd. Albin Michel, Coll. "Spiritualités Vivantes Poche", 1998)
* "Les Hommes ivres de Dieu", 1975, Fayard (rééd. Seuil, Coll. "Sagesses", 1983)
* "Chemin faisant, mille kilomètres à pied à travers la France d'aujourd'hui", 1974 (rééd. 1983, Fayard)
* "L’été grec : une Grèce quotidienne de 4 000 ans", 1976, Plon, Paris
* "Promenades dans la Grèce antique", 1978, guide Hachette (éd. commentée et ill. des "Voyages" de Pausanias le Périégète)
* "En cheminant avec Hérodote", 1981, Seghers (rééd. 1982 par Hachette, coll. Pluriel ISBN 2-01008-771-2)
* "Marie d’Égypte", 1983 (rééd. 1999 Collection Points-Seuil)
* "Au cœur des Mythologies, en suivant les Dieux", 1984, Hachette, coll. Pluriel ISBN 2-01278-888-2 (rééd. 1998, éd. Folio, ISBN 2-01-012112-0)
* "Ce bel aujourd'hui", 1989, Jean-Claude Lattès
* "Dictionnaire amoureux de la Grèce", Plon, collection Dictionnaire amoureux, 2001, ISBN-13: 978-2259190763
* "La Poussière du monde", Nil Éditions, 1997
* "Lexique érotique de la Grèce", Plon, 2003
*" La Grèce des Hommes" Jacques Lacarrière & Emanuel Sanz, Editions Livre Total SA Lausanne (Suisse), Luce Wilquin éditrice Dour, 1994,ISDN 2-88161-064-1 (épuisé)