Xavier de Planhol (3 February 1926 – 17 May 2016) was a Professor of Geography at the

University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

and a widely acknowledged authority on political geography. From 1958, when he began to publish monographs and articles during his first fieldwork in

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 th ...

, and later in the

Alborz The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

region of

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 ...

, to his monumental and highly acclaimed, ''Les Nations du Prophète'' (1993) and ''Minorités en Islam'' (1997), he has maintained his deep interest in

Persia 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 the Iranian civilization. He was also a contributor to

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encycl ...

, submitting articles ranging from "Abadan" to "Boundaries", "Cholera", "Darya?", "Earthquakes", "Famines", and a series of forthcoming articles on "Geography". A bibliography of de Planhol’s wide-ranging publications up to 1995 has been compiled and published by Professor Daniel Balland in ''Geographie Historique et Culturelle de l’Europe: Hommage au Professor Xavier de Planhol'', by Jean-Robert Pitte (1995).Encyclopaedia Iranica

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planhol, Xavier De 1926 births 2016 deaths French geographers Academic staff of the University of Paris Iranologists French Iranologists Members of Academia Europaea Travelers in Asia Minor