GUÉRIN, PAUL. - French hagiographer and theologian of the 19th century, b. at Buzançais in 1830, d. at Chateauroux on 23 June 1908. He taught philosophy (1855–63) at the College of St-Dizier and translated Milton’s Paradiso perduto into French (Paris 1857).
He published various historical-theological studies, such as Catechisme politique (2 vols., Paris 1889); Conciles généraux et particuliers (3 vols., Bar-le-Duc 1868–69); Concise œcuménique du Vatican (ibid. 1871). But he is particularly known for a series of hagiographical publications for which he drew upon earlier works and which, although of little scholarly value, were widely disseminated and contributed to the diffusion of hagiographical knowledge. Notable among them were: Les petits Ballandistes (17 vols., 17 eds. between 1858 and 1882 at Bar-le-Duc); Le palmier séraphique ou vie des saints et des hommes et femmes illustres des Ordres de St François (12 vols., ibid. 1872–74). He contributed to the general education of the people through the encyclopedia Dictionnaire des dictionnaires (6 vols., Paris 1886–89) and through the Nouveau dictionnaire universel illustré (Tours 1892).