Roger Lescot (1914–1975) was a French orientalist and diplomat known for his research of the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

language.

Biography

Roger Lescot obtained a degree in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

and Oriental literature in 1935. Later he also gained a degree in Turkish 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 ...

. In 1935 he began to learn Kurdish, and in 1936, in during the French Mandate of Syria, he was in contact with the

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...

in the Kurd Dagh and also with the

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

in the south of

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Roger Lescot and Pierre Rondot supervised the Kurdish activities within the French Mandate, specializing in Kurdish press and literature. Both were working together with Kurdish activists and were supportive of the Kurdish cultural aims. Lescot then wrote for several Kurdish outlets such as the ''Hawar'', ''Roja Nû'' or ''Ronahî''. Lescot was a close collaborator to members of the Berdirkan family. Upon his initiative the chair for Kurdish lectures was created at the ''

National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

'' (INALCO) in 1945, a position he held until 1947, and trespassed to Kamuran Bedirkhan, as he took up diplomatic work as a French diplomat in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

and work for the French intelligence. After four years of studies about the Kurdish national epic Mem û Zîn he published a version of it in Kurdish and a translation in French in 1942. In 1953 he published a French translation from the Persian of Sadegh Hedayat's novel '' The Blind Owl'' as ''La chouette aveugle''.La chouette aveugle : roman. Trad. du persan La chouette aveugle : roman. Trad. du persan
worldcat.org. Retrieved 3 October 2022. He published his and Celadet Bedirkhan's ''Grammaire kurde'' in 1970.

''Works''

* ''Proverbes et énigmes kurdes'', Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1937 * ''Quelques pages inédites de Djâmî'', ca. 1937 * ''Enquête sur les yezidis de Syrie et du Djebel Sindjar,''

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

: 1938 * ''Notes sur la presse Iranienne'', Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1938 * ''La réforme du vocabulaire en Iran'', Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1939 * ''Textes kurdes'', Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1940-42 * '' Mem û Zîn'', Beirut: 1942, Beirut * ''La chouette aveugle'', Paris: Jose Corti, 1953 * ''Anthologie de la poésie persane : XIe-XXe siècle. Textes choisis par Z. Safâ, traduits par G. ilbertLazard, R.

oger Oger may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Ogre, Latvia * Oger, Marne, France * Saudi Oger Saudi Oger Ltd ( ar, سعودي أوجيه), was a Saudi construction company, incorporated in January 1978 with its headquarters in Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, ال ...

Lescot et H. enriMassé'', Paris: Gallimard, 1964 * ''Grammaire kurde'', Paris: Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient, 1970

References

{{authority control French orientalists Kurdish literature Kurdologists