About the Fonds Ricœur

The philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) bequeathed his personal working library and entrusted his archives to the library of the Institut Protestant de Théologie-Faculté de Paris, where he had taught philosophy when he was a professor at the Sorbonne. He endowed the Fondation du Protestantisme with a sheltered foundation to receive the Kluge Prize and to attribute it to the creation of this documentary fund.

The creation of the Fonds Ricœur responds to this donation by opening this library and a small research centre to the public, intended to welcome researchers and offer a place for discussion between the disciplines and schools that the philosopher knew how to interweave.

The construction was completed in 2010, with a great deal of public and private support, and the cataloguing of books and archives has been completed - the Fonds Ricœur is currently continuing the digitisation of courses and articles not included elsewhere or inaccessible.

Supported by the Institut Protestant de Théologie-Faculté de Paris, to which this collection belongs, and led by a Scientific Council in which several academic institutions and disciplines are represented, the Fonds Ricœur is keen to ensure that its documentary collection is open to all, so that new generations feel at ease in the workshop of a thinker who was only interested in sharing his readings and his questions.

Since its opening at the end of 2010, on the second floor of the library, at the end of the garden of the Protestant Faculty, many researchers, many of whom come from foreign countries, have requested access to this space, and attend its seminars and study days. An international association has been created in order to broaden the base and influence of the Fonds Ricœur, notably through a worldwide network of correspondents.
Since January 2012, the Ricoeur Fund has been linked to the École des Hautes Etudes by a partnership agreement to promote the Fund and carry out joint actions.