René Labat (Assyriologist) Explained

Birth Date:5 June 1904
Death Place:Paris
Occupation:Assyriologist

René Labat (5 June 1904 – 3 April 1974) was a 20th-century French Assyriologist.

He was a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres from 1968 to 1974 and professor at the Collège de France from 1952 to his death.

Biography

Family

Born in Gascony,[1] he was the father of Florence Malbran-Labat, a philologist.[2]

Career

In 1932, he graduated from the École pratique des hautes études. The following year, he was elected directeur d'études at the 4e section to teach the assyrian language.

In 1938, he became docteur ès lettres.

In 1952, he was appointed at the chair of Assyriology at the Collège de France.

He became secretary of the Association of Professors at the College de France before being elected vice president in 1965. He remained in this position until his death.

He particularly studied the Elamite language, after father Scheil.

Academic functions

He was a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (ASMP) from 1968 to 1974, of the German Archaeological Institute, and of the Société asiatique, which he presided from 1969 to 1974. In the latter capacity, he chaired the events organized for the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Society and for the hundredth international congress in 1973.

He also wrote the article "Littérature assyro-babylonienne" of the Encyclopædia Universalis[3] and collaborated with the Cambridge Ancient History, the Fischer Weltgeschichte (in which he wrote about assyrian and neo-babylonian empires) and the Histoire générale des sciences.

Selected publications

Other translations

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/crai_0065-0536_1974_num_118_2_12988 Pierre Marot, Allocution à l'occasion de la mort de M. René Labat, membre de l'Académie
  2. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/crai_0065-0536_1978_num_122_4_13524 Jean Filliozat, Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. René Labat, membre de l'Académie
  3. http://www.universalis.fr/auteurs/rene-labat/ Fiche de René Labat