Évariste Lévi-Provençal (4 January 1894 – 27 March 1956) was a French medievalist, orientalist, Arabist, and historian of Islam. The scholar who would take the name Lévi-Provençal was born 4 January 1894 in Constantine,

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, as Makhlóuf Evariste Levi (),ParkWasserstein his second name revealing that his North-African

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family was already somewhat Gallicized. By the age of nineteen when he published his first paper he had rechristened himself Évariste Lévi-Provençal. He studied at the Lycée in Constantine, and served in the French army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, being wounded in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

in 1917. He then joined the Institut des Hautes Etudes Marocaines. He held positions at the University of Algiers (1926) and later the Sorbonne (1945). Lévi-Provençal was the founder of the French study of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and the first director of the Institute of Islamic Studies (''Institut d'études islamiques'') in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. He specialized in the history of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

and the Muslims of Spain. He worked on editing and translating the Arabic sources for the medieval history of Spain, often with Spanish Arabist Emilio García Gómez. His writings about Muslims scholarship were both admiring and critical. He was anticolonial in his leanings, and he tended to ignore or underplay Jewish sources and obfuscate his own Jewish origins to avoid French

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Selected works

* * ''Séville musulmane au début du XII^e siècle'' * ''L'Espagne musulmane au X^e siècle. Institutions et vie sociale'' (Paris, Maisonneuve & Larose, 1932) * Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane, Paris, Maisonneuve & Larose, 1950 ** I : La Conquête et l'émirat hispano-umaiyade (710-912) ** II : Le Califat umaiyade de Cordoue ** III : Le Siècle du califat de Cordoue

References

Sources

* Park, Thomas Kerlin and Aomar Boum, "Lévi-Provençal, Évariste", ''Historical dictionary of Morocco'', 2016, pp. 309–10. * Wasserstein, David, "Nota biographica: Makhlouf Levi and Evariste Lévi-Provençal", ''Al-Qanṭara'', 21 (2000): 211–214.

External links

Évariste Lévi-Provençal at BibilioMonde

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levi-Provencal, Evariste 1894 births People from Algiers 1956 deaths Algerian Jews Academic staff of the University of Algiers Academic staff of the University of Paris Algerian emigrants to France French Arabists French Islamic studies scholars 20th-century French historians Officers of the Legion of Honour Scholars of al-Andalus history