Muriel Debié, born in 1967, is a French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

specialist of the Syriac world.

Biography

Muriel Debié was born in Pau on December 28, 1967. After studying at Henri-IV and then at 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 ...

, she pursued a path as an orientalist at the Catholic University of Paris and later at the Sorbonne (Paris IV), where she completed a thesis under the supervision of Bernard Flusin on Western Syriac historiography. She teaches as a director of studies at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(EPHE), where she holds the chair of Oriental Christianities. One of her research topics focuses on the complex relationships between

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

in the early Muslim caliphates. Additionally, Muriel Debié contributed to

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 ...

, addressing topics related to her research, such as

Ephrem the Syrian Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literat ...

, the city of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

or the figure of

Jacob of Serugh Jacob of Serugh (, ; ; 452–521), also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob (), was one of the foremost poets and theologians of the Syriac Christian tradition, second only to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as ...

, among others. She is generally regarded, along with her colleague

Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (born 1956) is a French historian and research director. She is a doctor in history, research director at the CNRS, at the Orient and Mediterranean laboratory and a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-l ...

, as a significant Syriac scholar. The two researchers also collaborated within the framework of ''

Les Belles Lettres Les Belles Lettres, founded in 1919, is a French publisher specialising in the publication of ancient texts such as the '' Collection Budé''. The publishing house, originally named ''Société Les Belles Lettres pour le développement de la cu ...

'', where they oversaw the publication of a new collection dedicated to Oriental Christianity. Their joint work, "Le monde syriaque" (The Syriac World), received a major award from the

Institut du monde arabe The Institut du Monde Arabe (, ''Arab World Institute''; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. ...

in 2018 and the

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

prize la Dame à la licorne. The following year, in 2019, Debié contributed to the writing of

The Quran of Historians ''The Quran of Historians'' () is a work of research and historical synthesis on Islam, specifically focusing on the Quran. It was published in three volumes in 2019 by éditions du Cerf after five years of work. The book was described as a "sum ...

and later joined the

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that annually distinguishes a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

as a senior member in 2020. In November 2022, she was appointed a Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite for her academic research.

Decorations

Ordre national du Merite Chevalier ribbon

Knight 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debié, Muriel 1967 births Living people Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite 21st-century French women scientists 20th-century French women scientists French women historians