Léon Lacroix

Léon Lacroix (born November 23, 1909 in Verviers ; died August 1, 2016 in Liège ) was a Belgian numismatist and classical archaeologist .

Léon Lacroix studied Classical Philology at the Université de Liège , where he received his doctorate in 1932 . A scholarship enabled him to continue his studies with Charles Picard at the University of Paris and with Louis Robert at the École pratique des hautes études . In 1938 he became a member of the École française d'Athènes , but had to leave Greece at the beginning of World War II in 1939. In 1946 he returned to Athens . There he received his teaching qualification in 1948. The Université de Liège appointed him honorary professor for Greek archeology and art history in 1951, professor in 1955 and full professor in 1964 . He held this post until his retirement in 1980.

The focus of his scientific research was ancient, especially Greek numismatics, the iconography of which he studied throughout his life. Here he combined his archaeological skills, which he had trained on the Greek originals, with his extensive knowledge of classical philology and classical archeology .

Léon Lacroix became an associate member of the American Numismatic Society as early as 1946 and was its oldest member when he died. The Société royale de Numismatique de Belgique elected him in 1949 as a corresponding member and in 1953 as a full member. From 1961 to 1967 he was its vice-president, from 1963 to 1970 he was also co-director of the magazine Revue belge de Numismatique . The German Archaeological Institute made him a member in 1963, and in 1973 he was elected to the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique . The University of Besançon awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1960 . He was also a grand officer of the Belgian order of Leopold II. The magazine L'Antiquité classique appointed him its honorary director.

Fonts (selection)

• La faune marine dans la décoration des plats à poissons. Étude aur la céramique grecque d'Italie meridionale. Self-published, Verviers 1937.
• The reproductions de statues sur les monnaies grecques. La statuaire archaïque et classique (= Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Université de Liège. 116, ISSN  0768-5475 ). Faculté de philosophie et lettres, Liège 1949, ( digitized version ).
• Monnaies et colonization dans l'Occident grec (= Académie Royale de Belgique. Classe des Lettres et des Sciences morales et politiques. Collection in-8. Mémoires. Sér. 2, Vol. 58, 2, ISSN  0378-7893 ). Palais des Académies, Brussels 1965.
• Études d'archéologie numismatique (= Publications de la Bibliothèque Salomon Reinach. 3, ISSN  0555-6260 ). Boccard, Paris 1974.

Web links

• Short biography at muenzenwoche.de
• Literature by and about Léon Lacroix in the WorldCat bibliographic database

literature

• Robert Laffineur: Léon Lacroix (1909-2016). Homage au maître. In: Panagiotis P. Iossif, François de Callataÿ, Richard Veymiers (eds.): Τυποι. Greek and Roman Coins Seen Through Their Images. Noble Issuers, Humble Users? Presses Universitaires de Liège, Liège 2018, ISBN 978-2-87562-157-3 , pp. 19-25.