Death of Joyce Blau (1932-2024)

A highly committed activist in the Kurdish cause and anti-colonial struggle, Joyce Blau had a pioneering role in the field of Kurdology, and was notably associated with the creation of the Kurdish Institute of Paris, in which she maintained regular and busy activities right up to the end of her life.

Professor emeritus at Inalco, she was one of the driving forces behind the development of the teaching of Sorani Kurdish, which had never before been taught in France. She devoted several works to the subject, including Éléments de Grammaire "Sorani" (1974-75), circulated at the time by Inalco, and a Manuel de kurde, dialecte sorani (1980).

Pushed by Henri Curiel, who was her mentor and friend, she was first a student of Arabic, Persian and Kurdish at Inalco before joining our establishment in 1970, this time as a teacher, where she succeeded Kamran Ali Bédir Khan. She remained there until the end of her career. Her teaching and research covered all areas of Kurdology, from linguistics and literature to Kurdish civilization and culture, and she left behind an impressive body of work.

Inalco would like to pay tribute to her today: we are grateful and proud to have crossed paths with someone who left her mark on her time in more ways than one, both in her committed stances and through her research and teaching work.

.