Henri Bernard

Portrait of Henri   Bernard

Henri Bernard (Bernard-Maître after 1948) (Chinese name Pei Huaxing 裴化行) (22 Oct 1889, Châlons-sur-Marne — 3 Feb 1975, Gouvieux, France) was a French Jesuit priest, teacher and Orientalist, head of the Jesuit mission in Xianxian 献县 (Tientsin, Gangzhou, China) from 1924 to 1947. He was also a publisher of Chinese studies Cathasia, a publishing house he launched in Tientsin.

A self-taught Sinologist, Bernard teached mathematics and pursued his research in Chinese philosophy and history in Shangha, Xianxiani and Tianjin. Back to France in 1947, he founded the Institut d’ethnologie et de sociologie religieuse at ICP (Institut Catholique de Paris). 

Amongst numerous publications, he co-authored with Pierre Humberclaude and Maurice Prunier Présences occidentales au Japon du siècle chrétien à la réouverture du XIXe siècle ( 2011, ed. Christophe Marquet, INALCO, Cerf, Paris, collection Histoire).