Jacques Lacarrière

Who was Jacques Lacarrière?

Jacques Lacarrière was a French writer, born in Limoges. 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 was an immense popular success, as were his following classical works Maria of Egypt and Dictionnaire amoureux de la Grèce. 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 in 1991.

He died in Paris on 17 September 2005, following complications from orthopedic surgery. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered in Greece, off the island of Spetses.