Hippolyte Delehaye

Hippolyte Delehaye ( born August 19, 1859 in Antwerp, † April 1, 1941 in Brussels) was a Belgian Jesuit priest and church historian.

Delehaye studied at the Jesuit college and entered 1876 as a novice in the Society of Jesus. In 1891 he became a member of the "Society of Bollandists " in Brussels, 1892 Co-editor of Analecta Bollandiana and 1912 President of the Bollandists. This office he knew until his death.

In his fifty year career, published Delehaye over 1000 source editions, historical and methodological papers, essays and other writings. In his most famous work Les Légendes hagiographiques developed Delehaye the methodical tools to investigate legends of the saints with the help of historical source criticism. The work was discussed by his first appearance in 1905 on decades not only historians, but also in church circles bitterly and was threatened by the ecclesiastical censorship. Indexing could finally be with difficulty and only after diplomatic intervention of the Belgian state prevented.

Works (selection)

• Les Légendes hagiographiques. Société des Bollandistes, Brussels 1905 ( several editions and translations).
• Les Origines du culte des martyrs. Société des Bollandistes, Brussels 1912.
• Les Passions des martyrs et les genres littéraires ( = Subsidia Hagiographica. Vol.13, ISSN 0777-8112 ). Société des Bollandistes, Brussels 1921.
• Sanctus. Essai sur le culte des saints dans l' antiquité ( = Subsidia Hagiographica. Vol. 17). Société des Bollandistes, Brussels 1927.