Geoffrey Lewis Lewis (19 June 1920 – 12 February 2008) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative c ...

and the first Professor of Turkish at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He is known as the author of ''Teach Yourself Turkish'' and academic books about Turkish and Turkey.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1920 and educated at

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

. He earned an MA in 1945 and a DPhil in 1950 and was the James Mew Arabic Scholar in 1947. At St John's College, Lewis initially studied

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served from 1940 to 1945 as a radar operator in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Posted primarily in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, he taught himself Turkish through local Turkish acquaintances, from the Turkish newspaper ''Yedi Gün'' available in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, and from Turkish translations of English classics sent to him by his wife. He returned to Oxford in 1945 with his newly acquired interest in Turkish and on the advice of

H. A. R. Gibb Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (2 January 1895 – 22 October 1971), known as H. A. R. Gibb, was a Scottish historian and Orientalist. Early life and education Gibb was born on Wednesday, 2 January 1895, in Alexandria, Egypt, ...

took a second BA degree in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

as groundwork for

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, which he finished with first-class honours (not achieved in this double subject since

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

in 1922) in just two years. He spent six months in Turkey before pursuing his doctoral work on a medieval Arabic philosophical treatise at St John's College. Turkish was not taught at Oxford before Lewis was appointed to his academic post in 1950; it was through his efforts that it became established in the Oxford syllabus of Oriental studies by 1964. He was appointed to the chair of Turkish in 1986. He retired in 1987 and was succeeded in the following year by

Celia Kerslake Celia Kerslake (1946–7 February 2023) was a British Turkologist. She was the University Lecturer in Turkish and a Fellow of St Antony's College at the University of Oxford (1988–2011). She is known as the author of ''Turkish: A Comprehensive ...

Career

* Lecturer in Turkish, 1950–54, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, 1954–64, Senior Lecturer in Turkish, 1964–86, University of Oxford * Fellow,

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

, 1961–87 * Visiting Professor:

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, 1959–68;

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, 1970–71, 1974;

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 1975 *

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Leverhulme Visiting Professor,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, 1984 * Professor of Turkish, University of Oxford, 1986–87

Honours

* Vice-President, 1972–2003, President, 2003–2008, Anglo-Turkish Society * Turkish Government Certificate of Merit, 1973 *

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

, 1979 * President, British Society for

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern Studies, 1981–83 (Award for outstanding contributions for many years to Middle Eastern studies in UK, 2005) * President,

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...

Oxford Lodge, 1989 *

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the governmental body responsible for conducting foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry is responsible for Turkey's diplomatic missions abroad as well as providing support for Turkish c ...

Exceptional Service Plaque, 1991 *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

, 1998 * ''

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Honoris Causa'' from the

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, 1992 and the

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

, 1986 * CMG, 1999 *

Gunnar Jarring Gunnar Valfrid Jarring (12 October 1907 – 29 May 2002) was a Swedish diplomat and Turkologist. Early life Jarring was born on 12 October 1907 in Brunnby, Malmöhus County, Sweden, the son of Gottfrid Jönsson, a farmer, and his wife Betty ( ...

Lecturer, Stockholm, 2002

Publications

Yourself Turkish''
1953, 2nd edition 1989 * ''Modern Turkey'', 1955, 4th edition 1974 * (trans., with annotations) '' Katib Chelebi, The Balance of Truth'', 1957 * ''Plotiniana Arabica'', 1959 (based on the doctoral thesis) * (with Barbara Hodge) ''A Study in Education for International Misunderstanding'' (Cyprus School History Textbooks), 1966 * ''Turkish Grammar'', 1967, Second edition 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * (with M. S. Spink) ''Albucasis on Surgery and Instruments'', 1973 * ''The Book of

Dede Korkut The ''Book of Dede Korkut'' or ''Book of Korkut Ata'' (, ; ; ) is the most famous among the dastans or epic stories of the Oghuz Turks. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turkic peoples and t ...

'', 1974 * ''The Atatürk I Knew'', 1981 * ''Thickhead and other Turkish Stories'', 1988 * ''Just a Diplomat'', 1992 * ''The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success'', 1999. Oxford: Oxford University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Geoffrey 1920 births 2008 deaths 20th-century British linguists Alumni of St John's College, Oxford English expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Libya English Jews Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Linguists of Turkish People educated at University College School Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Turkologists