Tribute to Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont (1941-2024)

The world of Ottoman and Turkish studies has lost one of its leading figures in Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont. Endowed with exceptional erudition in the fields of oriental languages such as Ottoman Turkish, ancient Turkic languages such as Chaghatai, Persian and Arabic, he had a keen sense of moving from philology to epigraphy, from paleography to geography, to history. In fact, his main scientific discipline was interdisciplinarity. Serving research and researchers until the end of his life, the "Ecole Bacqué" trained a whole generation of academics who today constitute the flagship of Ottomanizing Turcology in France.

A graduate of the École Nationale des Langues orientales vivantes (1963), Jean-Louis remained, as it were, a student of Langues'O to the end, in turn lecturer (1977-1984, 2000-2006), then member of the Scientific Council of the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (2007-2011), he was also President and even militant of the Amicale des Anciens Élèves et Amis de l'Inalco, since 1969.

Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont's scientific career began at the CNRS. Indeed, even before defending his post-graduate thesis, he joined the CNRS in 1967 as a research trainee, and as soon as he defended his thesis on Bâbur Nâma in 1969 at the University of Paris, he was admitted as a research associate, later becoming director and finally emeritus after his retirement in 2006.

Appointed to head what was then the French Institute of Archaeology in Stamboul following in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors such as Albert Gabriel, Henri Corbin, Louis Robert and Georges le Rider, Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont was truly the institute's second founder. In the space of seven years (1984-1991), he literally transformed the institute - to the point of giving it its current name - into a veritable machine for research, scientific production, meetings and training. The IFEA has become a must for researchers of all backgrounds and disciplines, from ancient antiquity to contemporary Turkey, and has gone from being a simple archaeological institute to a veritable scientific hub for the humanities, a laboratory of ideas and projects. Freed from administrative duties and becoming an associate researcher after his departure for France in 1991, Bacqué-Grammont by no means left the IFEA, and under the aegis of his successors, he created new research programs, took part in scientific events and gave numerous lectures.

The tireless organizer and animator of research

On leaving us on May 8, 2024, Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont leaves behind an immense scientific body of work. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday, a number of our colleagues and friends collaborated on a collective work designed to pay tribute to him. One of the editors, Michele Bernardini, introduced the volume in the following terms: "Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont (...) represents a veritable landmark for Turcology the world over, in all research concerning the Ottoman world, modern Turkey and other aspects of Oriental studies. Endowed with an 'omnivorous' capacity for in-depth analysis of an infinite number of subjects Jean-Louis has produced a literature so vast that to propose here a complete bibliography of his studies would be an impossible undertaking"^[1]. Indeed, founder and member of a large number of research organizations, he notably served as General Secretary of the Société Asiatique (1993-2019) while also being a member of the Board of Directors of this venerable institution of Orientalism (1976-2019). He was also Secretary of the International Union of Oriental and Asian Studies for ten years (1997-2007). Somewhat forgotten, he was also editorial secretary of Turcica, Revue d'Études Turques (1971-1981) and a major contributor and moderator of this journal. Founder of the journal Anatolia Moderna-Yeni Anadolu, whose ten published volumes (1991-2004) are online^[2], he was also co-founder with among others Halil Inalcik, in 1974, of CIÉPO (International Committee for Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Studies), which held its 25th meeting in Tirana in June 2024. At IFEA, he created and directed the Varia Turcica collections (18 volumes published between 1985 and 1991) devoted to the Ottoman Empire and contemporary Turkey, and Varia Anatolica (XXV volumes published since 1990)which precedes the archaeological journal Anatolia Antiqua.

In addition, from 1992 onwards, he was the founder and head of the "History and auxiliary sciences of Ottoman history" research program at IFEA, as well as the international research program on Ottoman prosopography, which he continued under the patronage of CIÉPO and the Turkish History Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu), of which he was a corresponding member.

In addition to the complete production of volumes II to XI of the journal Turcica for almost ten years (1971 - 1980), Bacqué-Grammont co-organized numerous colloquia and co-edited some forty books, not to mention his participation in several hundred scientific events (congresses, symposia, conferences). Here are some book titles to give an idea of his work capacity and the variety of scientific disciplines in which he was interested: La Turquie et la France à l'époque d'Atatürk^[3], Économie et Sociétés dans l'Empire ottoman (fin du XVIII^e-dut du XX^e siècle)^[4], Contributions à l'histoire économique et sociale de l'Empire ottoman^[5], Turkey's accession to industrial civilization^[6], From the French Revolution to Atatürk's Turkey^[7], Atlas historique du golfe Persique (XVI^e-XVIII^e siècles)^[8], L'arbre anthropogène du Waqwaq, les femmes-fruits et les îles des femmes^[9]. Recherches sur le monde ottoman^[10].

From Bâbur to mezarology via the Safavids

That said, Bacqué-Grammont's entry into the scientific world was not through the Ottomans, but rather through their distant cousins, the Moghuls whose original language was Tchaghataï. Indeed, the Bâbur Nâma, Memoirs of Żahîru-ddîn Muhammad Bâbur is his post-graduate thesis, defended in 1969. However, this monumental work of initiation gave rise to a series of scientific works. Not only has Le Livre de Babur twice been published in French^[11], but also in German^[12] and Spanish^[13], it has subsequently given rise to numerous conference papers, journal articles and book chapters.

The second major scientific field that Bacqué-Grammont often invested in throughout her life was the Safavids, more precisely the Safavids' relations with the Ottomans. Indeed, defended in the form of a state doctorate in 1980, the study entitled Ottomans and Safavids at the time of Şâh İsma'îl, appeared in 1987 with the titleThe Ottomans, the Safavids and their neighbors. Contribution à l'histoire des relations internationales dans l'Orient islamique de 1514 à 1524^[14]. But the "Études turco-safavides" series, inaugurated in 1975 with "Notes sur le blocus du commerce iranien par Selîm I^er", (Turcica, VI, 1975, pp. 68-88) reached number XIX in 2011 with: "Notes et documents sur quelques sièges de Van au XVI^e siècle" (Études turco-safavides, XIX)^[15]. Here, too, the talents of the orientalist philologist and paleographer in all his dimensions and finesse appear. It involves the transliteration, translation and commentary of several hundred documents mainly from the Archives of the Presidency of the Council (now the Presidency of the Republic), the Archives of the Topkapı Palace Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Royal Malta Library (Valletta).

Studies on Ottoman cemeteries in Istanbul and other cities have also formed a series running from I to VII and entitled Stelæ Turcicæ, studies carried out, unlike the previous series, often in collaboration with other researchers, such as Hans-Peter Laqueur of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Nicolas Vatin or Thierry Zarcone, Faruk Bilici, Stéphane Yerasimos. For example, the first volume is entitled: "Stelæ Turcicæ I. Küçük Aya Sofya"^[16]. But the exploration of death and the funerary question in the Muslim world were crowned above all by a major international colloquium: Cemeteries and Funerary Traditions in the Islamic World. İslam Dünyasında Mezarlıklar ve Defin Gelenekleri^[17].

The starting idea of this scientific current, mezarology, which has since practically become a discipline in its own right, was that Ottoman funerary epigraphy, could constitute, in the same way as Egyptian, Hellenistic and Roman epigraphy, a fertile source of Ottoman prosopography, in the absence of a systematic and reliable civil registry. The problematic will be spelled out in these two studies: "Funerary epigraphy among the sources of Ottoman prosopography"^[18] and "The study of Ottoman cemeteries: Methods and perspectives"^[19]. Hence the launch with Hans-Peter Laqueur, by the "mezarologist" Bacqué-Grammont within the IFEA a scientific impetus in which other cited researchers were engulfed. This work subsequently took on larger dimensions encompassing urban fields, the history of art, architecture and institutions.

Thanks to numerous campaigns led by Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont, a large number of Ottoman cemeteries, mainly in Istanbul and its suburbs, have been the subject of publications: Bostancı Ali enclosure, Kadırga Limanı district; enclosures and cemeteries of Gözcü Baba, Kırklar, Mansur Baba, Şahkuli Sultan in Merdivenköy in Istanbul's Asian suburbs, Karacaköy cemetery, Mollâ Gürânî and Pîrî Mehmed Paşa enclosures, Istanbul's Fındıkzade district, Sokullu Mehmed Paşa a Eyüp enclosure. Similarly, the open-air museum at Şile, on the Asian shore of the Black Sea, the Kefeli mosque enclosure at Sinop have been published.

As early as 1990, with Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont and Hans-Peter Laquer, we had undertaken a systematic study of the two Ottoman cemeteries at Edirnekapı in Istanbul, belonging to two great families of Şeyh'ül-İslam, attached by family ties, the Paşmakçı-zâde and the Dürrî-zâde. These two families, especially the latter, dominated the Ottoman religious and political scene, from the XVII^th to the XX^th century ^[20]. Sadly left unfinished, this dossier, when published will constitute the posthumous work of our friend.

Four players in the Ottoman opening to the world: Pîrî Reîs, Seyyidî Ali Reis, Katib Çelebi and Evliya Çelebi

Bacqué-Grammont devoted much of the last thirty years of his life to the four figures who are considered the Ottoman intellectuals of the period of opening to the extra-Ottoman world: Piri Reis, 16th-century admiral, geographer and cartographer; Seyyidî (Seydî) Ali Reis, admiral; Kâtib Çelebî, historian, geographer, cartographer and philosopher; and Evliyâ Çelebî, traveler.

A sailor himself, Bacqué Gramont took a keen interest in Pîrî Reis, whose essential work, Kitâb-i Bahriye, is specifically concerned with the sea and Mediterranean ports. Notably, "Knowledge of Piri Reis on Distant Shores and Notes Concerning Foreign Sources on the Book of Navy (Kitab-ı Bahriye)" (2008)^[21], "Piri Reis'in Kitab-ı Bahriyesinde Bodrum Yarımadası Hakkında Birkaç Not" (2009)^[22], "Piri Reis'de ve XVI. Yüzyılın Diğer Osmanlı Yazarlarında Hint Okyanosu" (2014)^[23], are his pioneering works. Similarly, lesser-known Seyyidî Ali Reis has regained notoriety thanks to the publications of Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont: "Une anabase ottomane: l'expédition navale de Seyyidi 'Ali Re'is"^[24], "Deux documents sur les canons de Seyyidî 'Alî Re'îs laissés à Surate"^[25], but above all the French translation of this admiral's memoirs: Seyyidî 'Alî Re'îs, Le Miroir des Pays^[26].

Bacqué-Grammont also makes comparative studies between these authors or has published texts by both authors in the same work: "Doğu ve Batı Arasındaki İki Türk Bilgini: Piri Reis ve Kâtip Çelebi" (2008)^[27], but above all the work Pīrī Re'īs, Evliyā Çelebī. Deux regards ottomans sur Alexandrie^[28] (2013) are of this nature.

As for Evliyâ Çelebî, in recent years, he has been at the center of research by the great traveler who was Bacqué-Grammont and sestraductions. To our knowledge, his first study devoted to the traveler dates back to 2002. It was presented at a symposium in Cyprus under the title: "Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi'nde Santorin Adası Afetleri Üzerine Notlar"^[29]. This interest in the traveler has now become constant, and regularly he has presented papers in symposia and published important passages, from the Seyahatname. A few examples: "Evliya Çelebi'ye Göre Tarihçi Kral Yanvan ve Akrabaları"^[30], "Le Mont-des-Oiseaux en Égypte dans la relation d'Evliyâ Çelebî"^[31], "Cem et la légende de la princesse française selon Evliyâ Çelebi"^[32], "Corne ducale et Sainte-Chaussette"^[33], "Notes et documents sur l'histoire urbaine de Hamadan d'Evliyâ Çelebî à nos jours"^[34], "Histoire et géographie imaginaires chez le voyageur ottoman Evliyâ Çelebî: Les Portes de Fer, le Bras Thrace et son estuaire à Istanbul"^[35]. We know that he had started several projects with this traveler, but had not been able to complete them; in particular, the Crimea and Basra at Evliyâ Çelebî were on Bacqué-Grammont's program.

The "discoverer" of manuscripts

To conclude this rapid scientific biography of Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont, we must naturally mention the important manuscripts that remained virtually unknown to the public before him. First and foremost is the curious Première Histoire de France en turc ottoman^[36] (First History of France in Ottoman Turkish^[36]), which lay dormant in the Dresden Library. His introduction to it is a masterly lesson in the critical editing of a text, the method of translation and the investigation required to find the sources of a text that have become obscured over time.

The other text Bacqué-Grammont practically discovered was that of Julien Bordier, whose voluminous travel report (1,500 pages) is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France^[37]. He revealed the first elements in his contribution to a collective work: "Un voyageur périgourdin sur les rives de la mer Noire au temps d'Henri IV"^[38]. He subsequently explored a number of features in his lectures, mainly in Turkey. The vast undertaking of a publication of this manuscript also remained in draft form.

This brief introductory biography was intended to highlight the place Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont had in cultural and scientific intermediation between researchers and countries. It could serve as an introduction to the vast program of tributes envisaged by the IFEA. It would be desirable to publish his complete bibliography. Humor, competence, energy, curiosity and patience were his hallmarks. For us, his considerable work will remain as a model.

Reference notes

• ^[1] Michele Bernardini, Alexandre Taddei (eds.), Etudes en l'honneur de Jean-Louis Bacqué Grammont, Eurasian Studies, VIII/2010, p. VII.
• ^[2] https://www.persee.fr/collection/anatm. On several occasions we visited Adrien Maisonneuve together to discuss the transfer of distribution rights to IFEA.
• ^[3](With Paul Dumont), Collection Turcica, I, Paris, 1981, 320 p.
• ^[4] (With Paul Dumont), Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg (1^er-5 juillet 1980), Paris, Éditions du CNRS, 1983, 486 p.
• ^[5] (With Paul Dumont), Collection Turcica, III, Louvain, 1983, 503 p.
• ^[6](With Jacques Thobie): Actes du Colloque d'Istanbul, 2-4 décembre 1986, Collection Varia Turcica, VI, Istanbul-Paris, 1987, 4). 236 p.
• ^[7](With Edhem Eldem): La modernisation politique et sociale. Les lettres, les sciences et les arts. Actes des Colloques d'Istanbul (10-12 mai 1989), Collection Varia Turcica, XVI, 1990, 286 p.
• ^[8](With Dejanirah Couto and Mahmoud Taleghani), Tome VI de la collection " Terrarum Orbis, Histoire des représentations de l'espace : textes, images ", éditions Brepols, Turnhout, 2006.
• ^[9](With Michele Bernardini and Luca Berardi): Recherches sur un mythe à large diffusion dans le temps et l'espace, Università degli Studi di Napoli "l'Orientale" et Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes - Georges Dumézil, Series Minor, LXXII, Naples, 2007, 342 p.
• ^[10](With Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat and Michel Zink), Colloque international des 10 et 11 décembre 2010, organisé par l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, la Société asiatique et l'Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 2014, 310 p.
• ^[11] The Book of Babur. Babur-nama. Memoirs of the first Great Mogul of India (1494-1529), presented and translated from the Chaghatay Turkish by Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont. Annotated with the collaboration of Mohibbul Hasan Hasan. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1985, 379 p. The second edition appeared with a more sober title: Le Livre de Babur. Babur-nama de Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, Belles Lettres, Paris, 2022, 832 p.
• ^[12]Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur. Die Erinnerungen des ersten Grossmoguls von Indien. Das Babur-nama, UNESCO, 1980] erstellt, Manesse Verlag, Zurich, 1988, 1036 p.
• ^[13] Memorias de Babur, don Albert Pélach Pàniker, Circulo de Lectores, Barcelona, 2004.
• ^[14] Publications of the Dutch Historical and Archaeological Institute of Istanbul, LVI, Istanbul, 1987, 406 p.
• ^[15]Journal asiatique, CCICIX-1, 2011, pp. 19-62)
• ^[16](With Hans-Peter Laqueur and Nicolas Vatin), Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Istanbul Abteilung, 34, 1984, pp. 441-503 + 19 plates + 2 plans.
• ^[17]2 vol., Ankara, TTK Yayınları (Publications of the Turkish Historical Society), 1996.
• ^[18] Economic and Social History of Turkey (1326-1960). Actes du sixième congrès international tenu à Aix-en-Provence du 1er au 4 juillet 1992, sous la responsabilité de Daniel Panzac, Coll. Turcica, vol. VIII, Paris, Peeters, 1995, pp. 11-20 (infra, IX-40).
• ^[19]Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont and Aksel Tibet (eds.), Cimetières et traditions funéraires dans le monde islamique. İslam Dünyasında Mezarlıklar ve Defin Gelenekleri, 2 vols, Ankara, TTK Yayınları (Publications of the Turkish Historical Society), 1996, vol. I, pp. 135-159.
• ^[20] The last member of this family is Şeyh'ül-islam Abdullah Efendi, author of the famous fetvâ, condemning Mustafa Kemal and his companions to the death penalty, during the Turkish War of Independence.
• ^[21] International Turkish Sea Power History Symposium. The Indian Ocean and the Presence of the Ottoman Navy in the 16^th and 17^th Centuries. 20-22 October 2008, Istanbul, Istanbul, Naval Printing House, 2008, pp. III-43-45
• ^[22] Ahmet Özgiray, M. Akif Erdoğru (eds.), Osmanlılardan Günümüze Her Yönüyle Bodrum. 1522-2007, Bodrum, 2008, pp. 321-376.
• ^[23] Uluslararası Piri Reis ve Türk Denizcilik Tarihi Sempozyumu. I, Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2014, pp. 49-53.
• ^[24] Flora Blanchon (ed.), Aller et venir. Mythe et histoire, Centre de Recherche sur l'Extrême-Orient, Paris, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne, 1998, p. 73-87.
• ^[25]Eurasian Studies, VI/1-2, 2007-2008, p. 97-108.
• ^[26] An Ottoman anabasis through India and Central Asia. Narrative translated from Ottoman Turkish, presented and annotated by Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont, Bibliothèque Turque, Éditions Sindbad - Actes Sud, Paris, 1999, 187 p.
• ^[27] Türklerin ve Anadolu'nun Dünya Uygarlık Tarihindeki Yeri, Ankara, Tütav, 2008.
• ^[28]Translated and commented by Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont and Michel Tuchscherer, Études Alexandrines 30, Centre Français d'Études Alexandrines, Alexandria, 2013, 252 pp.
• ^[29]Nuran Tezcan and Kadir Atlansoy (eds.), Evliya Çelebi ve Seyahatname, Gazimağusa (Famagusta), Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2002, pp. 31-47.
• ^[30] Hakan Karateke and Hatice Aynur (ed.), Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi'nin Yazılı Kaynakları, Ankara, Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu, TTK Yayınları, 2012, p. 48-52 ;
• ^[31](With Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen), Journal Asiatique, CCC/2, 2012, pp. 451-474.
• ^[32](With Edith Gülçin Ambros), Archivum ottomanicum, XXXIX, 39-1, Other Places: Otto- mans traveling, seeing, writing, drawing the world. Essays in honor of Thomas D. Goodrich, 2012, p. 121-142.
• ^[33] Cahiers Balkaniques, 41, Faruk Bilici (ed.), Evliyâ Çelebî et l'Europe, Paris, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, 2013, p. 171-176.
• ^[34](With Mohammad Reza Naderpoor), Evliya Çelebi in the Borderlands: New Insights and Novel Approaches to the Seyahatname (Western Balkans and Iran Sections), Vjeran Kursar, Nenad Moačanin, Kornelija Jurin Starčević, Zagreb, Srednja Europa, 2021, pp. 79-127.
• ^[35]Johannes Zimmermann, Christoph Herzog and Raoul Motika (eds.), Osmanische Welten: Quellen und Fallstudien. Festschrift Michael Ursinus, Bamberger Orientstudien, 8, University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg, 2016, pp. 33-72.
• ^[36] Première Histoire de France en turc ottoman : chroniques des padischah de France, 1572, Paris, L'Harmattan, 1997, LXXIX + 217 p.
• ^[37] BNF, Ms Français 18076, Relation d'un voyage en Orient, par Julien Bordier, écuyer de Jean de Gontaut, baron de Salagnac, ambassadeur à Constantinople (1604-1612).
• ^[38] Faruk Bilici, Ionel Cândea and Anca Popescu (eds.), Enjeux politiques, économiques et militaires en mer Noire (XIVe-XXIe siècles). Studies in memory of Mihail Guboglu, Brăila Museum, Istros Publishing, Brăila, 2007, pp. 109-116.