Mikel de Epalza Ferrer (1938 – 6 December 2008) was a Spanish academic who was a specialist in Arab and Islamic studies. Born in Pau, France in 1938, he was a specialist on

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...

s (Muslims permitted to remain in the Christian realms of the medieval Iberian peninsula) and

Morisco Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open p ...

s (converts from Islam to Christianity in the same era). He encouraged good relations between Mediterranean European and North African nations. He had previously been a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

, and worked in Algeria and Tunisia. He was a Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Alicante. In 2001, he completed a Catalan language translation of the Quran which he titled ''L'Alcorà''. The translation received an award from the city of Barcelona, and was the joint winner of the 2002 National Prize for Translation, alongside the Hellenist

Carlos García Gual Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

. His origin was in fact Basque, and his native language was Spanish. He was married to

María Jesús Rubiera Mata María Jesús Rubiera Mata (1942, in Madrid – 7 June 2009, in Alicante) was a Spanish historian specialising in the history of Islamic Spain. She started teaching at the University Complutense in 1966. She moved to the University of Alicante i ...

, a colleague in his university department. He died at the age of 70, months after a severe traffic accident in May 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epalza, Mikel 1938 births 2008 deaths People from Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Spanish people of Basque descent Spanish Jesuits Spanish expatriates in Algeria Spanish expatriates in Tunisia Spanish Arabists University of Alicante faculty Spanish translators Translators from Arabic Translators to Catalan Quran translators Road incident deaths in Spain