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Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (September 13, 1843 - April 21, 1922) was a French priest, philologist, and historian.
Descended from a family of Breton sailors, he was born in 1843 in Saint-Servan and was orphaned at a young age. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1867. He taught for many years in Saint-Brieuc, then went to study in Paris. In 1876 he became a member of the École française in Rome. He was an amateur archaeologist and organized expeditions to Mount Athos, Syria, and Asia Minor, from which he gained an interest in the early history of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1887 he published a study of the first complete critical study of the Liber Pontificalis (Theodor Mommsen was also working on a critical study, but it was never finished). He also wrote Les Sources du martyrologe hyéronimien, Origines du culte chrétien, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, and Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical. These works were universally praised, and he was appointment commander of the Legion of Honor. However, his Histoire ancienne de l'Église was considered too modernist by the Church and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books.
In 1888 he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, and in 1910 he was elected to the Académie française. He died in 1922.
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