23 juillet 1891
18 février 1970
Né à Paimpol (Côtes d'Armor) le 23 juillet 1891, Gabriel Le Bras est issu d'une famille de marins bretons (son père est capitaine au long cours). Ses parents, César et Gabrielle Le Bras, lui font faire ses classes au petit séminaire deTréguier. Il mène ensuite de solides études juridiques et littéraires à l'Université de Rennes entre 1908 et 1911.
Arrivé à Paris en 1911, il y étudie à la faculté de droit jusqu'en 1914. La guerre interrompt son cursus : il est mobilisé du 24 août 1914 au 15 août 1919. Il reprend alors le chemin de l'Université de Paris et devient le 20 juillet 1920 docteur en sciences politiques et économiques, à la suite de la soutenance de sa thèse intitulée L'immunité réelle : étude sur la formation de la théorie canonique de la participation de l'Église aux charges de l'État et sur son application dans la monarchie française au XIIIe siècle. Deux ans plus tard, en 1922, il est reçu major à l'agrégation de droit (section histoire du droit) et devient également docteur ès sciences juridiques avec une thèse portant sur L'Évolution générale du procurateur en droit privé romain, des origines au IIIe siècle.
À la suite de son agrégation, il est nommé à compter du 1er octobre 1924 professeur de droit romain à la faculté de droit et des sciences politiques de l'Université de Strasbourg. On note une parenthèse dans cette charge avec sa nomination comme membre de l'École française de Rome où il réside entre 1925 et 1926. Revenu à Strasbourg, il complète l'enseignement qu'il dispense à la faculté de droit sur les questions de droit romain, par des cours délivrés à l'Institut de droit canonique, créé en 1920 dans le cadre de la faculté de théologie catholique : de 1924 à 1929, il enseigne donc conjointement le droit romain à la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Strasbourg et le droit canonique dans l'institut précédemment nommé.
Il est nommé à partir du 1er octobre 1931 à la chaire d'histoire du droit canon à l'Université de Paris, en remplacement de Robert Génestal du Chaumeil, décédé.
Parallèlement, il est nommé directeur d'études à l’École pratique des hautes études, dans la section "sciences religieuses" en 1931 ; il le reste jusqu'en 1965. Il devient par ailleurs président de cette Ve section des sciences religieuses en 1941, charge qu'il conserve jusqu'au 30 décembre 1950 (il est en effet renouvelé dans ses fonctions le 25 janvier 1945). Par ses travaux en sociologie, il intègre également la VIe section ("sciences sociales"), devenue par la suite l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales.
Il est nommé au 1er juillet 1959 doyen de la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Paris pour un mandat de 3 ans, qu'il exerce donc jusqu'en 1962.
Outre sa carrière universitaire, Gabriel Le Bras mène également une carrière politique. Il est en effet nommé conseiller au ministère des Affaires étrangères pour les Affaires religieuses de 1946 jusqu'à sa mort.
Il est élu 1962 membre de l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques (section "Législation, droit public et jurisprudence, fauteuil 7), succédant ainsi à François Albert-Buisson. Il fut également président de l'Association des historiens des facultés de droit, ainsi que président de la Société d'histoire de l'Eglise de France de 1942 à 1968.
Il meurt le 18 février 1970.
Ses apports tant en histoire du droit et des institutions qu'en sociologie des religions (discipline qu'il a contribué à créer) en font une figure incontournable de ces deux disciplines. Particulièrement attaché à l'étude des sources (il participe ainsi aux travaux de Paul Fournier et à l'entreprise de l' Histoire des collections canoniques en Occident depuis les Fausses décrétales jusqu'au décret de Gratien), il renouvelle profondément l'histoire du droit médiéval en associant systématiquement droit romain et droit canon. À cet égard, ses Institutions ecclésiastiques de la Chrétienté médiévale ont une importance majeure.
Concernant la sociologie religieuse, il participe à la création du Groupe de sociologie des religions et de la revue Archives de sociologie des religions. Il applique ainsi, ce qu'il a théorisé et expliqué à diverses reprises, le principe de l'enquête sociologique et sociographique à la pratique religieuse. Le programme de sociologie du catholicisme français auquel il s'est livré fut ainsi annoncé dès 1931 dans un article resté fondateur de la Revue d'histoire de l'Eglise de France, "Statistique et histoire religieuse. Pour un examen détaillé et pour une explication historique de l'état du catholicisme dans les diverses régions de la France".
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