Denis Sinor (born Dénes Zsinór, April 17, 1916 in

Kolozsvár ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , l ...

(Austria-Hungary, now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) – January 12, 2011 in Bloomington,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

) was a Distinguished

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Central Asian Studies Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game. During the 19th century, C ...

at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and a tenured lecturer at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

between 1948 and 1962, and was one of the world's leading scholars for the

history of Central Asia The history of Central Asia concerns the history of the various peoples that have inhabited Central Asia. The lifestyle of such people has been determined primarily by the area's climate and geography. The aridity of the region makes agriculture ...

. Under his directorship, the Central Asian Studies at Indiana University became one of the world's foremost centers for Central Asian history, languages and linguistics. He grew up in Hungary and Switzerland and went to university in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. During the Second World War, he was a member of the French resistance, served in the French army, and became a French citizen. Sinor wrote eight books and edited an additional thirteen. He authored more than 160 articles in several languages such as English, German, French, Hungarian, Russian and many other, more than 150 book reviews, and also contributed to ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. Sinor served as editor of the '' Journal of Asian History'', between the publication's inception in 1967 and his death in 2011.

Selected works

* * * * * * * * Sinor, Denis. 1999. “The Mongols in the West”. ''Journal of Asian History''; 33 (1). Harrassowitz Verlag: 1–44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933117.

References

External links

Denis Sinor
Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University 1916 births 2011 deaths Historians of Central Asia Indiana University Bloomington faculty Paleolinguists Linguists of Altaic languages Hungarian emigrants to the United States {{CAsia-studies-bio-stub