Having graduated as an
archivist-
palaeographer in 1901 with a thesis devoted to the
House of Armagnac then working as a member of the
École française de Rome (1901–1903), Charles Samaran became an archivist at the
Archives nationales. In 1908 he published
Les diplômes originaux des Mérovingiens, "an extraordinary achievement by a young palaeographer who would remain until his old age an infallible decipherer of difficult texts", a collection which played a key role in the study of Merovingian scriptures. Critical literary studies and editions of texts from all periods (dispatches from Milanese ambassadors under
Louis XI, Casanova's memoirs) followed, which would continue throughout his teaching (John Chartier,
Thomas Basin,
The Song of Roland in the literary field, acts of
University of Paris in the pragmatic field). He was appointed research director at the
École pratique des hautes études in 1927 (chair of
palaeography) then professor of "bibliography and archives of the history of France" at the
École Nationale des Chartes from 1933 to 1941 and director of the ''Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des chartes'' from 1935 to 1948 He was elected at the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1941 and appointed general director of the
Service interministériel des Archives de France by minister
Jérôme Carcopino the same year. He remained in that position until 1948, maintained beyond the retirement age. He was president of the
Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques from 1960 to 1982. Samaran became co-founder of the International Committee for Palaeography in 1953, as well as founder of the
Catalogue de Manuscrits datés and co-founder of the
International Council on Archives. Additionally, Samaran was a prolific author with several hundred titles in his personal bibliography. Notably, Samaran continued his work until his 100th birthday. Charles Samaran was the step-son of flautist
Paul Taffanel, creator of the French school of flute. He had three daughters: Annette (wife of Philippe Thiollier), Charlotte (wife of Jacques Lacome Estalenx) and Jeanne. His wife died in 1962 at age 80. == Iconography ==