Paul Zumthor

Who was Paul Zumthor?

Paul Zumthor, CQ was a medievalist, literary historian and linguist. He was Swiss-born, from Geneva.

He studied in Paris with Gustave Cohen, and worked on French etymology with Walther von Wartburg. In studying medieval French poetry, he formulated the concept of mouvance. He also emphasised "vocality" in medieval poetry, the place of the human voice.

He held two major professorial positions, at the University of Amsterdam from 1952 and at the Université de Montréal from 1971 to 1980, when he became emeritus. In 1992, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.