Born November 13 1930, Barcelona (Spain), French nationality. Died on 25 September 2017.
Education and professional career
- 1955-1960 : Oriental Institute of Rome, Semitic Languages - History of the Ancient Near East
- May 1960 : Doctorate
- 1961-1962 : École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem
- 1962-1963 : Iraqi Government Scholar
- 1963-1964 : Wadi Halfa, Sudan. Rescue excavations under the patronage of UNESCO
- 1964-1965 : UNESCO fellowship in Iraq and Syria
- 1965-1966 : French Institute of Archaeology, Beirut
- 1966-1967 : Visiting Fellow, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Yale University
- 1967-1976 : Associate Professor, Columbia University, New York
- 1977-1985 : Researcher, then Director of Research, CNRS
- 1986 : Visiting Professor, University of Geneva
- 1986-1999 : Director of the Associate Research Unit (URA 1062) " Études sémitiques ", CNRS
Awards and distinctions
- 1993 : Prix Clermont-Ganneau from the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Works
Studies on the history of the Arameans during the 1st millennium BC (see Annuaires du Collège de France, for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001).
Still in the field of Aramaic studies, but in later times : translation and commentary of Aristotelian texts written in Syriac by authors living in Northern Syria and Eastern Turkey from the 6th to the 9th centuries AD. This latest work, the subject of three lectures at the Collège de France, will soon be ready for publication.