Victor Charles Paul Dourlen was a French composer and music teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris during the first half of the nineteenth century. He is primarily known as a theorist on account of his treatises on harmony, based on the methods of Charles Simon Catel, which were widely used as reference works, especially his Traité d'harmonie, the Traité d'accompagnement pratique, and his Méthode élémentaire pour le pianoforte.

The Prix de Rome or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them to stay in Rome for three to five years at the expense of the state. The prize was extended to architecture in 1720, music in 1803 and engraving in 1804. The prestigious award was abolished in 1968 by André Malraux, then Minister of Culture, following the May 68 riots that called for cultural change.