This interest in Camões’ work unfolded in his studies on the literature and history of 16th-century Portugal. In addition to the volume devoted to the work and life of Fernão Mendes Pinto, Georges Le Gentil published several books on topics related to the Discoveries and the literary works of that century. In 1939, he translated and edited a selection of shipwreck stories entitled Histoires tragico-comiques, republished by Chandeigne a few years ago. In a review published in 1939, he recalled the importance of Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto’s lectures on the discoveries given at the Sorbonne in 1930 and 1931, published in Coimbra in 1936. His posthumous work entitled La Découverte du monde (1954) is intended to be a compendium of the history of discoveries from Antiquity to the 20th century, his last opportunity to highlight the role of the Portuguese and Spanish in the modern era.

In the first half of the 20 th century, the name of Georges Le Gentil was indispensable in Iberian-American studies in France. His fame in academic circles crossed national borders to reach Portugal and Brazil. As Julien recalled in 1954, “The prestige of G. Le Gentil was considerable, not only in France but also in Portugal. Particularly moving tributes were paid to him by Portuguese scholars, who published a collection of studies in 1949 in honour of a man ‘ , whose erudition honoured both France and Portugal’. (‘Préface’, Découverte du monde , 1954, p. VII). Although the passage of time has contributed to the partial oblivion of his work, some of his studies are still cited in compendiums and books on history and literature in Portugal. For example, his study on Fernão Mendes Pinto is considered a “fundamental work” by the editors of História de Portugal, published in the late 1970s. (Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, História de Portugal , vol. III, 1978, p. 199). In fact, the study devoted to the work of Oliveira Martins is still recognised today as pioneering and considered a fundamental essay for a better understanding of the role and place of Portuguese intellectuals in Portugal and Europe. The publisher Chandeigne, in Paris, has been reissuing Georges Le Gentil’s main works since the 1990s, with updates and accompanying commentary.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | (Pdf)