Download a high resolution photo of Claude Pichois.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ French scholar Claude Pichois, one of the
world’s foremost scholars of French letters and a Vanderbilt University
professor since 1970, died Tuesday at a Paris hospital of heart
failure. He was 79.
Pichois was particularly famed for his work on French writer Charles
Baudelaire. He edited volumes of Baudelaire’s works and correspondence,
and collaborated with Jean Ziegler on a Baudelaire biography.
"The bibliography of Claude Pichois is vast," said James Patty, an
emeritus professor of French at Vanderbilt who worked with Pichois.
"You could fill up pages and pages just citing the titles. He was
extremely learned and worked terribly hard, and constantly."
Pichois was named a Distinguished Professor of French at Vanderbilt
upon his arrival in 1970, and was named an emeritus professor in 1998.
He directed the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French
Studies at Vanderbilt for many years.
The Bandy Center is a vast archive containing materials relating to Baudelaire, French literature and theatre.
Pichois was born in Paris and earned a diploma from the Ecole des
Hautes Etudes Commerciales and a license in classics. He received the
Diplome d’Etudes Superieures in classics, followed by the Doctorat
d’Etat es letters, awarded by the Sorbonne, with honors.
Early in his career, Pichois worked with Baudelaire scholar Jacques
Crepet on the latter volumes of the complete works of Baudelaire. On
his own, he branched out and wrote several general histories of French
literature and critical scholarly editions of Baudelaire, Gerard
Nerval, Collette and other authors.
Pichois’ work was recognized with many awards including Vanderbilt’s
Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research. He established the
Claude and Vincenette Pichois Scholarship in French Literature, which
benefits both graduate and undergraduate students at Vanderbilt.
"The Arts and Science community has lost one of its most distinguished
scholars and teachers," said Richard McCarty, dean of the College of
Arts and Science. "Claude Pichois’ legacy at Vanderbilt endures through
the work of the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire Studies and the impact
he had on a generation of undergraduate and graduate students."
He is survived by his wife, Vincenette Pichois. Funeral arrangements will be private.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu