Olivier Revault d'Allonnes (1923–2009)

Olivier Revault d'Allonnes was born in Paris. His parents were Gabriel Charles Revault d'Allonnes, a well-known psychologist, and his wife Henriette Psichari, femme des lettres. After passing the agrégation in philosophy, he obtained a doctoral degree in 1972 and became a lecturer, then professor, at the Université de Paris-I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). His thesis, The Aesthetic Creation and the Promises of Freedom, was published in 1973. He was the long-time director of the Revue d'esthétique (Journal of Esthetics) and played an important role in the recognition in France of the Frankfurt School, especially of the work of Theodor Adorno.

He was the author of books on music, including Musical Variations on Jewish Thought (1979), Pleasure of Beethoven (1982), and Loving Schoenberg (1992), and also produced critical editions of the writings of painters Eugène Delacroix, Maurice Denis and Francis Picabia.