Charles Joret

Charles Joret (14 October 1839, Formigny – 27 December 1914, Paris) was a French literary historian, philologist and botanical author. His name is associated with the so-called ligne Joret (Joret line), a locative boundary used in the linguistics (isogloss) of the Langues d'oïl.

Following studies in Heidelberg and Bonn (1859–60), he taught Latin classes in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët. From 1862 to 1867 he taught German classes at the Lycée in Chambéry. In 1873 he received his diploma from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, obtaining a doctorate of letters two years later. From 1877 onward, he was a professor of foreign literature at the Faculté des lettres d’Aix-en-Provence.

In 1887 he became a corresponding member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, where from 1901 to 1914 he had the status of membre libre. He was also a member of the Société des antiquaires de Normandie, and in 1902 was elected president of the Société de Linguistique de Paris.