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Michel Bréal

Michel Jules Alfred Bréal (March 26, 1832 - 1915), French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria, of French parents.

After studying at Weissenburg, Metz and Paris, he entered the Ecole Normale in 1852. In 1857 he went to Berlin, where he studied Sanskrit under Bopp and Weber. On his return to France he obtained an appointment in the department of oriental manuscripts at the Bibliothéque Impériale. In 1864 he became professor of comparative grammar at the College de France, in 1875 member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, in 1879 inspecteur général of public instruction for higher schools until the abolition of the office in 1888. In 1890 he was made commander of the Legion of Honour.

Among his works, which deal mainly with mythological and philological subjects, may be mentioned:

He has also written pamphlets on education in France, the teaching of ancient languages, and the reform of French orthography. In 1906 he published Pour mieux connattre Homme.

Michel Bréal can also be credited with the invention of the marathon race. He made the suggestion to put this event on the programme of the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896 to his friend Pierre de Coubertin. The event was to commemorate the Greek soldier Phidippides who, according to several legends, ran from the Battle of Marathon to either Athens or Sparta.

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