François Avril (born 19 August 1938) is a French art historian and librarian, specialising in medieval manuscripts and illuminations.
Early life and education
Avril graduated from the École Nationale des Chartes in 1963 with a thesis entitled La décoration des manuscrits dans les abbayes bénédictines de Normandie aux XI-XII siecles (Manuscript Decoration in Benedictine Abbeys in Normandy in the 11th to 12th centuries). The same year, he was made and a member of the French Academy in Rome.
Career He joined the manuscripts department at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in 1967 and remained there until retirement in 2003 as general curator.
Recognition In 1989, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) awarded Avril a silver medal. In 2004, he was granted an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin. As part of the award, he gave a day of lectures which were then published in a volume called Mélanges. Selected works
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