Jean Gimpel

Jean Gimpel (10 October 1918 – 15 June 1996) was a French historian and medievalist.

Gimpel was brought up in luxury in a house in the Bois de Boulogne, though he went on to be educated in both France and Britain.

He made his living as a diamond broker before establishing himself as a critic of the concept of the great artist.

Gimpel and his wife Catherine maintained a salon in London in his later years.

Gimpel's published works include:[2] Novelist Ken Follett wrote that he was inspired and informed by Gimpel's work and later retained him as a consultant while writing The Pillars of the Earth.