Marguerite Yon, or Marguerite Yon-Calvet, née Calvet, is a French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and historian, specializing in the

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

, particularly

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 ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. She is widely recognized for her archaeological work on Ugarit, where she conducted excavations for twenty years. She has extensively excavated the island of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. Notably, she held the distinction of being the first female president of the

Academy of Lyon __NOTOC__ The Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon (French: Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Lyon) is a French learned society founded in 1700. Its founders included: * Claude Brossette, lawyer, alderman of Lyons, and ...

since its foundation.

Biography

As a research director at

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 ...

, Marguerite Yon had a particular interest in ancient ceramics. She conducted excavations in the ancient city of Salamis in

and the Cypriot ports, such as the naval port of Kition Bamboula (modern

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

), and the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n sanctuaries on the island. Marguerite Yon led the Syro-French Archaeological Mission of Ras Shamra-Ugarit for twenty years, from 1978 to 1998. Under her leadership, the mission published sixteen volumes of results. This period marked a significant discovery of numerous documents at the archaeological site, often referred to as a "miracle". The team unearthed over 300 engraved tablets covered with writing, confirming the importance of the relatively forgotten civilization of

in the

history of the Levant The Levant is the area in Southwest Asia, south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Arabian Desert in the south, and Mesopotamia in the east. It stretches north to south from the Taurus Mountains to the S ...

and

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

. After her retirement from that role in 1999, her brother and close collaborator, Yves Calvet, succeeded her. She actively engaged in advising other researchers, particularly by assisting in the training of archaeologists from countries involved in her research. For instance, in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, she provided guidance and support to Lebanese archaeologists on specific issues. She was awarded the

CNRS Silver Medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherch ...

in 1992 in recognition of her research and scientific contributions. Marguerite Yon-Calvet earned the title of professor emeritus at Lumière Lyon-II University. Elected in 2000 member of the

, she subsequently became in 2015 the first female president since its foundation in 1700.

Decorations

(France)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yon, Marguerite People from Lyon French historians of religion 21st-century French women scientists 20th-century French women scientists French National Centre for Scientific Research awards 20th-century archaeologists French women archaeologists French women historians Phoenician-punic archaeologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people