Émile Gebhart

Émile Gebhart (19 July 1839, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle – 22 April 1908, Paris) was a French academic and writer, He was elected to the Académie Française (fauteuil 34) in 1905.

Having finished his studies in the lycée of Nancy, he was admitted to the École Française of Athens, where he researched future works.

When he returned to France he was sent to the lycée of Nice and soon after appointed professor of foreign literature in the University of Nancy.

For the twenty-six years during which he retained that position, he was a most popular professor, his lectures being attended by enthusiastic audiences both of students and of men and women of the world.

Every summer, for twenty-five years, he spent three months in Italy, visiting Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, seeking books in libraries, staying in monasteries and talking with the monks, and gathering popular legends.