- Director of the Center for Ottoman Studies at the Collège de France
- Research Director, CNRS
- Director of Studies, EPHE
Born in 1973, Alexandre Papas is a historian of the Turkish world and Muslim mysticism, with degrees in philosophy from Université Paris IV-Sorbonne, in Persian, Turkish and Mongolian from INALCO, and a doctorate in history from EHESS (2004 ; prize for the best thesis awarded by the Institut d'études de l'islam et des sociétés du monde musulman in 2006). His research focuses on Sufi mysticism, the cult of saints and politico-religious issues in Central Asia and the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century to the present day. He has been a CNRS research fellow since October 2007 and director of research since October 2017 ; he has been a visiting professor at several universities (Univ. of Kyoto, Ohio State Univ., American Univ. of Paris, Government College Univ. Faisalabad). He was awarded the CNRS bronze medal in 2012. Since 2022, he has been Director of Studies at the EPHE, Historical and Philological Sciences Section.
He is co-editor of the Handbook of Sufi Studies
He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sufi Studies
