GIRY, JEAN-MARIE-JOSEPH-ARTHUR. - French historian and diplomatist, b. at Trévoux (Ain) on 29 Feb. 1848, d. at Paris on 13 Nov. 1899. After taking part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he became an archivist in the national archives (1871), soon distinguishing himself through various studies on the juridical and economic institutions of the Middle Ages, and subsequently becoming professor at the Ecole des Chartes (1885).
Among his works may be noted the Histoire de la ville de St-Omer et de ses institutions jusqu'au XIVe siècle (Paris 1877); Documents sur les relations de la royauté avec les villes en France de 1180 à 1314 (2 vols., ibid. 1883-85); and the Manuel de diplomatique (ibid. 1894, reprinted ibid. 1925), which remains authoritative even today. He directed two series of publications concerning the Carolingians.
He died of grief and anxiety following the Dreyfus affair.