Vigouroux, Fulcran-Grégoire

VIGOUROUX, FULCRAN-GRÉGOIRE. - Sulpician, biblical scholar, b. at Nant (diocese of Rodez) on 13 Feb. 1837, d. at Rome on 21 Feb. 1915.

In 1861 he taught at the Seminary of Autun, in 1864 he moved to that of Vichy, to the chair of exegesis; in 1890 he was called to the Catholic Institute of Paris. At the same time he completed journeys in the East with E. Le Camus. In 1903 he was named secretary of the Biblical Commission.

V. was an exceedingly prolific writer. He took on the far from easy task of apologist of the Bible against the dominant rationalism. With his undisputed authority he became the head of conservative exegesis after the death of Maignan (v.). His most notable works are: La Bible et les découvertes modernes en Égypte et en Assyrie (2 vols., Paris 1877; 6th ed., 4 vols., ibid. 1896); Manuel biblique ou cours d'Écriture Sainte à l'usage des séminaires. Ancien Testament (2 vols., ibid. 1879-80), with Bacuez (v.), translated into various languages, including Italian (Sampierdarena 1894); revised by Brassac with a too innovative approach, the Manuel was condemned in its 14th ed. and the condemnation was explained in a long letter (22 Dec. 1923) from Card. Merry del Val to the superior of St. Sulpice (Enchiridion Biblicum, Rome 1927, nos. 510-17); Mélanges bibliques. La cosmogonie mosaïque d'après les Pères de l'Église suivie d'études diverses à l'Ancien et au Nouveau Testament (Paris 1882); La Ste Bible selon la Vulgate, traduite en français (Glaire's version, introduction and commentary by V., 4 vols., ibid. 1888-91); Le Nouv. Test. et les découvertes archéologiques modernes (ibid. 1890); La Ste Bible polyglotte (Hebrew, Septuagint, Vulgate, French translation: 8 vols., ibid. 1900-1900). More than for these and other works, V. is remembered for the Dictionnaire de la Bible (5 vols., Paris 1895-1912), which he conceived and directed, and to which he contributed no small number of articles. The work, despite its imperfections, is a rich and convenient biblical repertory; it is renewed, in many parts, by the Supplément (1925 ff.) directed by L. Pirot (v.) and, from 1940, by A. Robert (5 vols. up to 1953).

Angelo Penna