François Déroche (born October 24, 1952) is an academic and specialist in

Codicology Codicology (; from French ''codicologie;'' from Latin , genitive , "notebook, book" and Greek , ''-logia'') is the study of codices or manuscript books. It is often referred to as "the archaeology of the book," a term coined by François Masai. ...

and

Palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

. He is a professor 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 ...

, where he is holding "History of the Quran Text and Transmission" Chair.

Biography

Déroche was born on 24 October 1952 in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

. After completing his '' Classe préparatoire'' at

Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more tha ...

, he began his studies at 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, Savo ...

in 1973. He got the '' Agrégation de Lettres classiques'' in 1976 and passed the ''

Diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

'' in Egyptology in 1978. After a year of aggrégation internship, he was recruited in 1979 by the ''

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

'' as a scientific resident, responsible for preparing the catalog of manuscripts of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. In 1983 he was appointed a scientific resident at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies in Istanbul for a period of three years, he will remain in this city two additional years thanks to a grant from the Fondation

Max van Berchem Edmond Maximilien Berthout van Berchem (16 March 1863, Geneva – 7 March 1921, Vaumarcus) commonly known as Max van Berchem, was a Swiss philologist, epigraphist and historian. Best known as the founder of Arabic epigraphy in the Western wor ...

(Geneva). During his stay in Istanbul, he completed his doctoral thesis on the oasis of Dedan/al-'Ulâ that he defended in 1987. On his return to France in 1988, he was assigned to secondary education, first in the Paris region, then to

Auneau Auneau () is a former commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Auneau-Bleury-Saint-Symphorien.Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais () is a commune in Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. The commune was once an important stronghold reigning over the whole natural and historic province of Thymerais. Born of the fierce determination of its f ...

. In 1990, he was elected director of studies at the Section of Historical and Philological Sciences 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 ...

''. He was a vice-President, then a president of the Society for the Study of Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Maghreb, he directs the organization of study days in collaboration with 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 (epigr ...

, where he was elected as a correspondent on October 26, 2000 and a member on January 28, 2011; he is also involved in the preparation of the academic seminars of this society, in Tripoli (2005), Caen (2009) and Aix and Marseille (2014). He is a member of many learned societies including 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 ...

'', the ''

Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques The Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS) (''Committee for Historic and Scientific Works'') is a French research institution created by the Minister of Public Education François Guizot on 18 July 1834 for the purpose of 'leading ...

'', and the Board of Experts of the

Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation is a London-based non-profit institution which is primarily concerned with promoting "the study, cataloguing, publication, preservation and conservation of Islamic manuscripts throughout the world." It was ...

in London. He is a member of the Board of Directors and Scientific Council of the École Pratique des Hautes Études.

Awards and honours

* 1988:

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

Bronze Medal * 2008: Chevalier of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* 2009: Commander of the

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

Works

* ''Catalogue des manuscrits arabes'', fascicules 1 et 2, Bibliothèque nationale (France), département des manuscrits, Bibliothèque nationale. * 1989 - ''Manuscrits Moyen-Orient Essais de Codicologie et Paléographie'', actes du colloque d’Istanbul, 26-29 mai 1986, Institut français d’études anatoliennes : Bibliothèque nationale. * * * ''Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient'', Bibliothèque nationale de France. 1997. * ** * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Déroche, François 1952 births 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Collège de France faculty Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques French Islamic studies scholars French orientalists Writers from Metz Living people Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres École Normale Supérieure alumni Codicologists