Duruy, VICTOR, historian and educationist, was born in Paris, 11th September 1811. Destined for a designer in the Gobelins tapestry-works, he showed singular aptitude for learned studies, and, entering the Ecole Normale in his nineteenth year, in 1833 became professor of History in the Collège Henri IV. From 1863 to 1869 he was Minister of Public Instruction, and as such carried out some important reforms, though his scheme for free and compulsory education was defeated by the clericals.
His numerous and important works, published between 1838 and 1879, include historical geographies of the Roman empire, of the middle ages, and of France, histories of France and Greece, and his magnum opus, the Histoire des Romains (trans. 6 vols. 1883-86). He was Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (1867), and member of the Academy (1885), and died 25th November 1894. See Life by Lavisse (1895).