Georges-Michel Coissac
Georges-Michel Coissac (1868-1946) was a French film historian. From 1892 onwards he was involved in the Catholic institution la Maison de la Bonne Presse’s press service and distribution of magic lantern slides and later films. In 1925, he wrote Histoire du cinématographe: de ses origines à nos jours (1925), in which he describes the invention, development and the gradual introduction of the cinematographe, the brothers Lumière’s invention, to French society. He played a major role in publicizing the cinematographe and cinema, as president of l’Association professionnelle de la presse cinématographique (1919-1924) and a staunch believer in cinema’s potential to promote Catholic values. In this regard, he was the principal founder of two Catholic film magazines, Le Fascinateur (1903-1938), which he directed from 1903 to 1914, and Cinéopse (1919-1945).
