Abbé Joseph-Marie Henry
Parish priest of Valpelline, mountaineer, botanist and historian of the valley (1870-1947)
For more than forty years Abbé Henry was parish priest of Valpelline. A mountaineer, botanist and historian, he wrote one of the most widely read histories of the Aosta Valley.
From Courmayeur to Mont Blanc
Joseph-Marie Henry was born in Courmayeur on 10 March 1870. In 1883 he entered the cathedral school in Aosta. He was ordained on 17 December 1892. The very next year, in 1893, he made his first great ascent: Mont Blanc.
The botanist
A lover of mountain plants, Abbé Henry helped create the Chanousia alpine garden in 1897, the project of Abbé Pierre Chanoux. In 1902 he became editor of the Bulletin of the Société de la flore valdôtaine.
The historian priest
In July 1903 he became parish priest of Valpelline, a post he held until his death. In 1929 he published the Histoire populaire, religieuse et civile de la Vallée d’Aoste, still a reference today.
He was made a Knight of the Crown of Italy in 1922, then an honorary canon of Aosta Cathedral in 1942. He died in Valpelline on 26 November 1947. The Valpelline library bears his name.
Sources: Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani; Municipality of Valpelline, Abbé Henry library.
Gallery (portrait): Gian- (pms.wikipedia), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Main photo (statue of Abbé Henry): Tenam2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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