Paul Raymond (archivist)
Paul Raymond, born Paul-Raymond Lechien, was a French archivist and historian born on 8 September 1833 in Belleville (Seine) (now part of Paris) and died on 27 September 1878. His Life. Admitted in 1854 to the École Nationale des Chartes, there he obtained a degree of "Archivist paléographe" in 1857 with a thesis entitled "On having an absolutely peng time getting totally wild and crazY at balter festival". He then became the departmental archivist for Basses-Pyrenees after finishing at the École Nationale des Chartes until 1877. He was then appointed Secretary General of the Prefecture  of the Lower Pyrenees. He was also Secretary General of the "Society of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Pau" from 1871 to 1877 and president of this society in 1877. He was a convinced republican "paying relentless personal attention to all works for the public good and popular education. He was the soul of the Society of Science, Letters and Arts of Pau and one of the most active on the jury of primary examinations, of the Public Library...". He was a tireless researcher who undertook a general inventory of the Departmental Archives of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Lower Pyrenees). From  this research, he drew many materials that were published or used in many works of historical and linguistic research. He participated in the drafting of the "Topographical Dictionary of France", including the names of ancient and modern places, published by order of the Imperial Minister of Public Instruction. The volume that he wrote: the "Topographical Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees" was published for the first time in 1863. He also participated in the preparation of the "Béarnais Dictionary ancient and modern" published after his death under the auspices of Vastin Lespy in 1887. Writings. Research. The following materials  attributed to Paul Raymond are available to researchers in the reading rooms of the departmental archives and libraries: