In 1867, the founder of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, formed the – ultimately unsuccessful – project of founding an Augustinian University. Faithful to the spirit of the founder, the Assumptionist seminary, which had been established in Louvain after the expulsion of religious congregations from France, began publication in 1902 of the Revue augustinienne, which in 1955 became the Revue des Études augustiniennes, and was joined in 1958 by the Recherches augustiniennes. The seminary also began to collect books, and part of this collection has been inherited by the Institute’s library. These activities were interrupted by the war, but began again in 1921, thanks to Fr. Fulbert Cayré, who founded the “Bibliothèque Augustinienne”. In 1934, the Assumptionist seminary was transferred to Longpont, near Corbeil, and in 1943 the Centre des Études augustiniennes was created. Fr. Cayré was its director, with the assistance of several religious.
By 1956, the Centre des Études augustiniennes had acquire a considerable scholarly reputation. It now became an Association, under the 1901 French law, with the name “Institut d’Études Augustiniennes”, its stated aim being “study of the late Empire and high Middle Ages, and more specifically of Christian writers, in particular St. Augustine”. Fr. Georges Folliet succeeded Fr. Cayré. As the Assumptionist congregation could no longer support the Institut d’Études Augustiniennes, in 1978, it left the rue François Ier (in the 8th arrondissement of Paris), where it had been located.
The combined efforts of the Catholic Institute, the City of Paris, the National Centre for Scientific Research, and the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) have allowed the Institute to resume and continue its activities in the former abbatial palace of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Since 1st January 2001, the Institut d’Études Augustiniennes has been a component of the Laboratoire d’études sur les monothéismes (LEM, UMR 8584), affiliated with both the National Centre for Scientific Research and Doctoral School I, “Ancient and Medieval Worlds”, of the University of Paris-Sorbonne. It also retains its charitable status, and is thus affiliated by contact with the Catholic Institute of Paris, which accomodates it. Its actual director is Vincent Zarini, professor of late antique Latin literature at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV).
Former directors :
1990-2006 : M. Jean-Claude Fredouille
1988-1990 : M. Claude Lepelley
1978-1988 : M. Jacques Fontaine
