Jean-Noël Alexandre Robert (born 30 December 1949) is a French orientalist, specialist of the history of

Buddhism in Japan Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...

and of its Chinese predecessors. His work particularly focus on

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

and the philology of Sino-Japanese Buddhist texts. He is the author of the French translation of the ''

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...

'', a seminal text of

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

Buddhism, from the original Chinese. In 2011, he was appointed a professor at the to become the holder of the chair .

Biography

Robert graduated from the in 1970 and was a resident of the Franco-Japanese House of Tokyo in 1974–1975. From 1975 to 1990, he worked at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

. Since 1979, he has been the lecturer and director of studies at the fifth section of the (EPHE). A of

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

(1987), he was appointed director of the of the Collège de France in 2010. On 11 April 2011, he was appointed professor at the College of France where he became holder of the Chair of . Robert is a member of numerous scientific societies and specialized committees: the , of the at

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...

, of the (5th section), counsellor of the , board of the . Robert is editor of ', an encyclopaedia of Buddhism from the Chinese and Japanese sources, and member of the editorial and scientific committees of the ', the ' and the ' journal. He was elected on 17 March 2006, member of the at the chair of

André Caquot André Caquot (24 April 1923 – 1 September 2004) was a French orientalist, specialized in Semitic history and civilisations and professor of Hebrew and Aramaic language at the Collège de France. In 1986, André Caquot was elected president o ...

. He also writes in Latin, under the pseudonym Alexander Ricius.

Honours and awards

Honours

* Knight 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 ...

(France) * Officier of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

(France) * Commander of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

(France) * Gold and Silver Star of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(Japan)

Awards

* 2023 : Medal of 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 ...

* 2021 : Medal of the International Prize in Japanese Studies (Japon)

Publications

*1986: ' (kanbun) *1990: ' (doctorate thesis) *1995: ', published in Japanese in 1997 *2001: ''Kanbun for the XXIst Century : The Future of Dead Languages'' (in Japanese) *2003: ' (translation) *2007: ',

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, series "", *2008: ', *2008: ' *2012: ''La hiéroglossie japonaise'' *2023: ''Des langues et des dieux au Japon''

References

External links

Jean-Noël Robert
on the site of the (IEA) de Nantes
Site des membres de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert, Jean Noel French Japanologists Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études Academic staff of the Collège de France Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Société Asiatique Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class 1949 births Living people