André Miquel (26 September 1929 – 27 December 2022) was a French

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in Al Andalus, medieval Muslim ...

and historian, specialist of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

and

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Biography

André Miquel was born in Mèze,

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

on 26 September 1929. He studied literature. A student of the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

which he joined in 1950, agrégé de grammaire and

docteur ès lettres Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

, from 1976 to 1997, he was holder of the Chair of classical Arabic language and literature at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

, of which he was general administrator from 1991 to 1997, after being that of the

Bibliothèque nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

from 1984 to 1987. Miquel was known for his work on the geography of the Arab World and the ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''. His interest in the Arab world dates back to a trip to the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

he won after winning the

concours général In France, the Concours Général (), created in 1747, is the most prestigious academic competition held every year between students of ''Première'' (11th grade) and ''Terminale'' (12th and final grade) in almost all subjects taught in both genera ...

of geography in 1946, and his discovery of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

in the translation by

Claude-Étienne Savary Claude-Étienne Savary (1750 in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine – 1788) was an orientalist, pioneer of Egyptology and translator of the Qur'an. Publications *1782–1783: ''Le Coran, traduit de l'arabe, accompagné de notes, et précédé d'un abrég� ...

. In 2005, in collaboration with , he realised a new translation of the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' which was published in the

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...

. This translation includes all 1205 poems based on the edition of Bulaq, named after the Egyptian city where the text was printed for the first time in 1835. Miquel died in Paris on 27 December 2022, at the age of 93.André Miquel, historien spécialiste de langue et de littérature arabes, est mort
''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

Honours and awards

Honours

* Grand Officier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. * Officier of the National Order of Merit. * Commander of the

Palmes académiques Palmes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Sir Brian Palmes, English landowner and politician * Sir Guy Palmes, English politician * Brian Palmes MP * Lieutenant General Francis Palmes * Major Billie Palmes * Captain Laurence P ...

. * Commander of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

Awards

* 1969 : Marie-Eugène/Simon-Henri-Martin Award of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(France). * 2010 : King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Award for Translation (KSA). * 2010 : Golden Award at ''Doha Arab Cultural Capital'' Festival (Qatar). * 2019 : Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic Language Award (UAE).

Acknowledgement

* Member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

. * Member of the

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The acade ...

. * Honorary member of the

Arab Academy of Damascus The Arab Academy of Damascus () is the oldest academy regulating the Arabic language, established in 1918 during the reign of Faisal I of Syria. It is based in al-Adiliyah Madrasa, and is modeled on the language academies of Europe, and founded w ...

. * Honorary member of the Tunisian foundation for translation, the establishment of texts and studies.

Selected publications

Principal works

*1968:
L’Islam et sa civilisation (VIIe-XXe siècle)
'éd.

Armand Colin Armand Colin is a French publishing house founded in 1870 by Auguste Armand Colin. It specializes in publishing works concerning human sciences, economics and education. Among its best-known publications are the "U" collection begun in 1968, and ...

, coll. "Destins du monde", Paris, work distinguished by the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. *1971: ''Le fils interrompu'' *1973: ''La géographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11 siècle'', vol. 1: ''Géographie et géographie humaine dans la littérature arabe des origines à 1050''. *1975: ''La géographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siècle'', vol.2: ''Géographie arabe et représentation du monde : la terre et l'étranger''. *1977: ''Langue et littérature arabes classiques'', éd. Collège de France. *1978: ''Vive la suranie'',

éditions Flammarion Groupe Flammarion () is a French publishing group, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops ( La Hune and Flammarion Center). Flammarion ...

. *1980: ''La géographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siècle'', vol.3: ''Le milieu naturel''. *1981: ''La Littérature arabe'',

Presses universitaires de France Presses universitaires de France (PUF; ), founded in 1921 by Paul Angoulvent (1899–1976), is a French publishing house. Recent company history The financial and legal structure of the Presses Universitaires de France was completely restruc ...

, "

Que sais-je ? "Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...

". *1988: ''La géographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siècle'', vol.4: ''Les travaux et les jours'', Éditions de l'EHESS, coll. "Civilisations et sociétés". *1990: ''L'Orient d'une vie'', in collaboration with , éd. . *1991: ''Les Arabes, l'islam et l'Europe'', Paris, Flammarion, with and . *1992: ''L'Evénement : le Coran, sourate LVI'', éd. Odile Jacob. *1992: ''D'Arabie et d'Islam'', éd. Odile Jacob, with *1994: ''Du Golfe aux océans. L'Islam'', éd. Hermann, Paris. *1995: ''Les Arabes : du message à l'histoire'', éd. Fayard, Paris, 1995 with and

Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour (Arabic: محمد العزيز بن عاشور) is a Tunisian politician and historian born on 5 January 1951; he specializes in urban, social and cultural history of modern Tunisia and the Islamic civilization. He was ...

. *1996: ''Deux Histoires d'amour : De Majnûn à Tristan'', éd. Odile Jacob. *2007: ''Le vieil homme et le vent'', Pézenas, éd. Domens. *2010: ''Croire ou rêver'', éd. Bayard. *2016: ''Le temps se signe à quelques repères: Mémoire'', éd. Odile Jacob.

Translations

*1957:

Ibn al-Muqaffa' Abū Muhammad ʿAbd Allāh Rūzbih ibn Dādūya (), born Rōzbih pūr-i Dādōē (), more commonly known as Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (; ), was a Persian translator, philosopher, author and thinker who wrote in the Arabic language. He bore the name Rōz ...

(ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muqaffaʿ), '' Le livre de Kalila et Dimna'', Paris, Klincksieck. *2005: ''Les Mille et une Nuits'',

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

, "

", translated with Jamel Eddine Bencheikh.

References

External links

André Miquel's bibliography
on Univ-Provence
André Miquel
on

France Culture France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...

André Miquel : ''Connaître son héritage arabe n'empêche pas d'être français''
on Le Point {{DEFAULTSORT:Miquel, Andre 1929 births 2022 deaths People from Hérault 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians Scholars of medieval Islamic history French Arabists Arabic–French translators École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the Collège de France Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Members of Academia Europaea