Born 27 May 1902, Aleppo. Died on October 3 1976.
Education and professional career
- 1919 : C.E.S. classical degree
- 1922 : Agrégation in grammar
- 1922-1927 : Stay in India as a tutor with the Tata family
- 1927 : Graduate of the Ecole des Hautes Études (IVe section)
- 1927-1969 : Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études
- 1927-1937 : Secretary of the Société asiatique
- 1935 Docteur ès lettres
- 1937-1969 : Professor of Comparative Grammar at the Collège de France
- 1945-1959 : Assistant Secretary of the Société de linguistique de Paris
- 1950 : Professor at the University of Ann Arbor
- 1959-1970 : Secretary of the Société de linguistique de Paris
- 1960 : Member of the Institut (Académie des Inscriptions des Belles Lettres)
- 1969 : Illness forced him to give up his lectures
Awards and distinctions
- 1960 : Member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
- 1962 : Officer of the Legion of Honor
- 1965 : Honorary doctorate from the University of Louvain
- 1974 : Honorary doctorate from the University of Berne
- Member of ten foreign learned societies
- Commandeur des palmes académiques
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Teheran