Jean-Hippolyte Michon

Who was Jean-Hippolyte Michon?

Jean-Hippolyte Michon was a French priest and archaeologist and the founder of graphology.

Born in Laroche-près-Feyt, department of Corrèze, he studied in Angoulême and at the seminary in Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where in 1830 he was ordained into the priesthood. In the 1830s, he first was introduced to the idea that a person's character could be ascertained via their handwriting from Abbé Flandrin, a priest who taught classes in philosophy.

In 1842, he resigned his position as a priest, though still remaining a preacher. He focused his energy towards scientific pursuits, in particular historical and archaeological research, publishing a number of works on the religious history of Charente. In 1844, he published a treatise on Gallo-Roman monuments of Charente titled Statistique Monumentale de la Charente. In 1850 he participated in an archaeological mission to the Middle East as an archaeologist and botanist.

In 1860 he published La Rénovation de l'Eglise, in which he espoused his progressive thoughts on religion. This work was denounced by the Catholic Church and added to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.