| Jean-Pierre Babelon | |
| Birth Date: | 1931 11, df=y |
| Birth Place: | 6th arrondissement of Paris, France |
| Death Place: | Paris, France |
| Nationality: | French |
| Occupation: | Historian |
| Education: | École Nationale des Chartes École du Louvre |
| Office: | President of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |
| Term: | 2001 |
| Predecessor: | Philippe Contamine |
| Successor: | Jean Richard |
Jean-Pierre Babelon (17 November 1931 – 2 February 2024) was a French historian.[1]
Born in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, Babelon was the son of historian Jean Babelon and the grandson of historian Ernest Babelon. He graduated from the École Nationale des Chartes in 1950 with a thesis titled La demeure parisienne sous Henri IV et Louis XIII. He then became an assistant archivist for the and subsequently studied at the École du Louvre.
The majority of his career was spent at the Archives Nationales as a curator for the Musée des Archives Nationales. In addition to his research, he was a senior lecturer at the École pratique des hautes études with a particular focus on the French Wars of Religion. From 1989 to 1996, he curated the Palace of Versailles museum. He joined the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1992 and served as its president in 2001, succeeding Philippe Contamine and preceding Jean Richard. He was responsible for the curation of the Musée Jacquemart-André and the Chaalis Abbey.
In 2010, Babelon, alongside Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, worked on the reburial of Henry IV of France at the . A ceremony for the reburial was planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy for May 2012.[2] However, the ensuing and the upcoming presidential election delayed the event, and the project was eventually abandoned by François Hollande.[3] In 2012, he joined the scientific council Figaro histoire.[4]
Jean-Pierre Babelon died on 2 February 2024, at the age of 92.[5]