Irène Mélikoff ( az, İren Məlikova; russian: Ирен Меликофф; 7 November 1917 – 8 January 2009) was a Russian-born French

Turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative con ...

with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

i ancestry.

Life

Mélikoff's ancestors had been major industrialists in Baku, but she was born in the Russian capital. The family fled revolutionary Russia soon after the Communist takeover within weeks of her birth, arriving in France in 1919, when she was just two. There she graduated in Oriental languages from

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sor ...

in Paris. She gained her doctorate there in 1957. Mélikoff married Faruk Sayar, the son of the Turkish mathematician Salih Zeki Sayar, in 1940 and moved to Turkey in 1941 with her husband. Returning to France in 1948, she conducted research in the field of Turkology and wrote famous works. Her research has covered

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

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. She was the head of the faculty of Turkology and Iran at the University of Strasbourg. Mélikoff has been elected a member of many international scientific organizations, including well-known societies such as Asia Society and Ernest Renan Society. She long headed the Turkic and Iranian Studies Institute at Strasbourg University and was one of the co-founders of Turcica magazine as well as chairwoman of the Turkic Development Group. She was the author of a number of publications on Turkic studies — particularly on Sufism, the

Alevis Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, ...

and

Bektashis The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led ...

- and received more than ten prestigious awards for her contribution to Oriental studies. She was an honorary doctor at

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) ( az, Bakı Dövlət Universiteti (BDU)) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and ...

. Mélikoff was editor-in-chief of Turkika, the only Turkology magazine published in Western Europe, also visited

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

in Iran and collected rich material about her beloved Shah Ismail Khatai. The prominent scientist praised Azerbaijani literature and its prominent representatives, and expressed her admiration for MF Akhundov's work. She died from a serious illness in January 2009 in Strasbourg.

Relations with Azerbaijan

In an interview, she expressed her love for Azerbaijan and said that she first came into contact with Azerbaijan in 1968 while in Central Asia. At that time, she communicated with Azerbaijanis who came to the scientific conference. She also studied the history and literature of Azerbaijan. After the Soviet Army's massacre in Baku on January 20, 1990, Melikoff rallied in Paris with many members of the Azerbaijani exile.

Family

Her father was the oil tycoon, merchant, intellectual and philanthropist Iskander bey Malikov, and her mother was the Russian ballerina Yevgenya Nikiferovna Mokshanova. In 1940, she married Farooq Sayar, the son of the Turkish mathematician Saleh Zaki Sayar. The marriage later ended in divorce. From this marriage, she had three daughters, Sonya, Ladin and Shirin Laura. Following in her mother's footsteps, her daughter Shirin Malikova specialized in Azerbaijani literature and received a doctorate. In October 2019, she was awarded the Jubilee Medal of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan by the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe.

Bibliography

* La Geste de Melik Danişmend (Paris, 1960) * Abu Muslim, le “Portre-Hache” du Khorassan dans la tradition épique Turco-Iraienne, (Paris, 1962) * Uyur İdik Uyardılar Alevîlik-Bektaşîlik Araştırmaları (Istanbul, 1992) * De L’épopée au Mythe/Itinéraire Turcologique, (Istanbul 1995) * Hacı Bektaş/Efsaneden Gerçeğe * Hadji Bektach: Un Mythe et ses avatars/Genèse et évolution du Soufisme populaire en Turquie, Leiden (New York-Köln, 1998) * Tarihî ve Kültürel Boyutlarıyla Türkiye’de Alevîler-Bektaşîler-Nusayrîler (Istanbul, 1999) * Kırklar’ın Cemi’nde (Istanbul, 2008)< She has written more than 70 scientific articles.

References

External links

Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes d'Istanbul

Tribute at Strasbourg University Turkish Studies Department

Turkologist Melikoff dies at 91

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melikoff, Irene 1917 births 2009 deaths University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg French orientalists Russian orientalists French people of Azerbaijani descent Russian people of Azerbaijani descent Writers from Paris White Russian emigrants to France