DELATTRE, ALFRED-LOUIS. — Archaeologist, born at Deville in the diocese of Rouen on 26 June 1850, died at Carthage on 11 January 1932. In 1874 he entered the Missions of the Bianchi Fathers in Africa and, sent shortly afterward to Carthage by Cardinal Lavigerie, from then on made the ancient African metropolis his residence and the field not only of his religious ministry but also of his archaeological research. His name is in fact linked to the exploration of Carthage, and particularly of its Christian remains. To him are owed the discovery and excavation of the vast complex of Damus-el-Karita, followed by those of the other basilicas of S. Cyprian and of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas (or basilica maiorum), as well as of Punic tombs and pagan monuments, such as the amphitheatre, the so-called wall of the amphorae, etc.
From the numerous finds there arose, in the same residence of the Bianchi Fathers near the Primatial Church, the Lavigerie Museum, which, in its three sections—Punic, Roman, and Christian—illustrates the city’s entire secular history. D. prepared its catalogue, published in the series Catalogues des musées de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie (Paris 1899–1900). He devoted other writings to illustrating the many excavations he had carried out: one on Lampes chrétiennes, published in successive instalments, first in Missions catholiques (1880), then in Revue de l'art chrétien (1890–92), and partly republished as a separate pamphlet; another, prompted by the discovery of some interesting Carthaginian reliefs, entitled Le culte de la Ste Vierge en Afrique d'après les monuments archéologiques, Paris–Lille, n.d. [1907]. The critical rigour of these writings does not always equal the fervour that D. had displayed in his research. D. died at Carthage after seeing the Christian resurrection of the city, which he had pursued with such ardour, crowned by the International Eucharistic Congress of 1930. He was a corresponding member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and of the Pontificia Accademia di Archeologia (v. G. P. Kirsch, in Riv. arch. crist., 9 [1932], p. 159 sgg).