In 1931, Jean Bousquet was received "cacique" (first) at the admission competition of the
École normale supérieure, in the same class than his future friend
Georges Pompidou. Also received in first position at the
agrégation in humanities, Jean Bousquet was admitted in 1936 to the
French School at Athens. First a professor in a Bordeaux high school in 1942, he then served from 1946 at the Chair of ancient Greek in the
University of Rennes. An
archaeologist and
epigrapher, Jean Bousquet was one of the leading specialists of the Hellenic sanctuary of
Delphi where he led several excavation missions, and of the site on the island of
Delos. In this capacity, he undertook the publication of accounts of the Delphic
Amphictyonic League, a set of papers which allowed to assess the balance of power in the classical Greek world. In 1971, he was appointed Director of the
École Normale Supérieure by Georges Pompidou in replacement of another Greek scholar,
Robert Flacelière. His discretion and efficacity served him in coping with student unrest following May '68 and a distressing incident involving the death in 1980 of the wife of the renowned Marxist thinker,
Louis Althusser. Jean Bousquet was a regular member of the congregation at the Ecole Normale's parish church,
Saint Etienne du Mont. Jean Bousquet was renowned for his witty puns (canulars) regularly posted on his official noticeboard. In 1981, at the end of his term in office, he returned to teaching and was elected a Greek language and civilization professor at the
Paris-Sorbonne University, a position he held until his retirement. == Works ==