Geoffrey Lewis Lewis CMG FBA (19 June 1920 – 12 February 2008) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Professor of the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was well known as the author of ''Teach Yourself Turkish'' and academic books about Turkish and Turkey.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

in 1920 and educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

(MA 1945, DPhil 1950; James Mew Arabic Scholar, 1947). At St John's College Lewis initially studied classics. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served from 1940 to 1945 as a radar operator in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Posted primarily in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, he returned to Oxford afterwards and switched his studies to

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. He initially studied Turkish as a hobby: Turkish was not taught at Oxford before Lewis was appointed to his academic post.

Career

* Lecturer in Turkish, 1950–54, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, 1954–64, Senior Lecturer in Turkish, 1964–86, Oxford * Fellow,

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

, 1961. * Visiting Professor:

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, 1959–68;

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, 1970–71, 1974;

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, 1975 * British Academy Leverhulme Visiting Professor,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, 1984 * Professor of Turkish, University of Oxford, 1986.

Honours

* Vice-President, 1972–2003, President, 2003–2008, Anglo-Turkish Society * Turkish Government Certificate of Merit, 1973 * FBA 1979 * President, British Society for

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern Studies, 1981–83 (award for outstanding contributions for many years to Middle Eastern studies in UK, 2005). * President,

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

Oxford Lodge, 1989 * Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Exceptional Service Plaque, 1991 *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey The Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Liyakat Nişanı) is awarded by the President of Turkey with approval of the Prime Minister upon the proposal of the relevant members of the Cabinet considering the opinion ...

, 1998 * Honorary doctorates from the

University of Istanbul , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

and the

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

* CMG, 1999 *

Gunnar Jarring Gunnar Valfrid Jarring (12 October 1907 – 29 May 2002) was a Swedish diplomat and Turkologist. Early life Jarring was born in Brunnby, Malmöhus County, Sweden, the son of Gottfrid Jönsson, a farmer, and his wife Betty (née Svensson). He ha ...

Lecturer, Stockholm, 2002

Publications

Yourself Turkish''
1953, 2nd edition 1989 * ''Modern Turkey'', 1955, 4th edition 1974 * (trans., with annotations) '' Katib Chelebi, The Balance of Truth'', 1957 * ''Plotiniana Arabica'', 1959 * (with Barbara Hodge) ''A Study in Education for International Misunderstanding'' (Cyprus School History Textbooks), 1966 *''Turkish Grammar'', 1967, Second edition 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * (with M. S. Spink) ''Albucasis on Surgery and Instruments'', 1973 * ''The Book of Dede Korkut'', 1974 * ''The Atatürk I Knew'', 1981 * ''Thickhead and other Turkish Stories'', 1988 * ''Just a Diplomat'', 1992 * ''The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success''. 1999 Oxford: Oxford University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Geoffrey 1920 births 2008 deaths 20th-century linguists Alumni of St John's College, Oxford British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Libya British Jews Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Linguists from the United Kingdom Linguists of Turkish People educated at University College School Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Turkologists