André Caquot (24 April 1923 – 1 September 2004) was a French orientalist, specialized in Semitic history and civilisations and professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Aramaic language The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. In 1986, André Caquot was elected president of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions ( epig ...

. His work particularly focused on the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = F ...

ic and Phoenician sculptures, as well as on ancient

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Career

A former student of the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in Paris, agrégé de grammaire, André Caquot joined the French Archaeological Mission in Ethiopia from 1953 to 1955 before being appointed director of the Semitic religions comparative studies at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

then lecturer in History of Religions at the . From 1964 to 1968, he was responsible for Hebrew lessons and history of the religion of Israel at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, then from 1972 to 1994, he occupied the chair of Hebrew and Aramaic at the

. Elected a member of the

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions ( epig ...

in 1977, he became president of the institution in 1986. In 1992, he was president of the 14th congress of the International Organisation for the Study of the Old Testament. Having retired in 1992, André Caquot was invited, until 2003, to give conferences and seminars to the of the

Catholic University of the West The Catholic University of the West (UCO; French: Université catholique de l'Ouest), known colloquially to its students as «''la Catho''», is a university located in Angers, France. History Early in the 11th century this school became famous ...

where his library and archives are now housed.Cf. J. Riaud, ML. Chaieb, ''L'œuvre d'un orientaliste, André Caquot 1923-2004'', Champion, Paris, 2010, p. 7 He contributed to the translation of the Psalms and the

Books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...

for the

Traduction œcuménique de la Bible The Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (; Abrev., abr.: TOB; full name: ''La Bible : traduction œcuménique'') is a French Ecumenism, ecumenical translation of the Bible, first made in 1975-1976 by Catholics and Protestants. The project was in ...

. President of the

Société Asiatique The Société Asiatique (Asiatic Society) is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging ...

and of the , André Caquot was also general secretary of the "Société française d'histoire des religions".

References

Bibliography

* Philipe de Robert, « André Caquot », in

Patrick Cabanel Patrick Cabanel (born 22 February 1961) is a French historian, director of studies at the École pratique des hautes études and holder of the chair in ''Histoire et sociologie des protestantismes''. He mainly writes on the history of religious min ...

and

André Encrevé André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

(dir.), ''Dictionnaire biographique des protestants français de 1787 à nos jours'', tome 1 : A-C, Les Éditions de Paris Max Chaleil, Paris, 2015, (p. 562–563)

External links

CAQUOT André, Marcel
on the site of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres
''Une religion qui incarne l’esprit national'' by André Caquot
in Le Monde diplomatique {{DEFAULTSORT:Caquot, Andre French Hebraists French orientalists French philologists Translators of the Bible into French French historians of religion Historians of Jews and Judaism École Normale Supérieure alumni École pratique des hautes études faculty University of Paris faculty University of Strasbourg faculty Collège de France faculty Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Société Asiatique Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques People from Épinal 1923 births 2004 deaths 20th-century translators 20th-century philologists Translators from Mandaic