The Institut d'Estudis Occitans (English: Occitan Studies Institute or Institute for Occitan Studies; ), or IEO, is a cultural association that was founded in 1945 by a group of Occitan and French writers including

Jean Cassou Jean Cassou (9 July 1897 – 15 January 1986) was a French writer, art critic, poet, member of the French Resistance during World War II and the first Director of the Musée national d'Art moderne in Paris. Biography Jean Cassou was born at Bi ...

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, Ismaël Girard, Max Roqueta, Renat Nelli, and Pierre Rouquette. It aims at both maintaining and developing the Occitan language and influence of

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...

through the supervision, harmonization and normalization of everything dealing with the Occitan life and culture. The IEO is divided into regional and departmental sections and local circles that cover the whole of the country from the cities (called in

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

language) of Lemòtges and

Clarmont Clarmont is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges. Geography Clarmont has an area, , of . Of this area, or 82.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 11.0% is forested. Of the rest of the lan ...

up north to Marselha, Tolosa or Bordèu down south. A number of carefully targeted activities are sponsored by groups and other associations affiliated with the Institute, or by members themselves. The IEO is the Occitan counterpart of the

Institut d'Estudis Catalans The Institute for Catalan Studies ( ca, Institut d'Estudis Catalans, ), also known by the acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture". It is based in Barcelona, Catal ...

. Its motto is ''La fe sens òbras mòrta es'' ("Faith without works is dead").

History

A first Institute for Occitan Studies was created around 1923 as a section of the League of Meridional Homeland (''Ligue de la Patrie Méridionale''), but had a short lifespan. In 1930, the Society for Occitan Studies (SEO) was founded by

Joseph Anglade Joseph Anglade (1868–1930) was a French philologist. He specialized in Romance languages, particularly Occitan, and studied the lyrics of the troubadours. He was instrumental in formalizing the term ''Occitan'' for the language of Provence. H ...

and

Valère Bernard Valère Bernard ( oc, Valèri Bernard; 10 February 1860 – 6 October 1936) was a Provençal painter, engraver, novelist and poet, writing in the Occitan language. He left an important body of graphic work, and his works continued to be publis ...

, with

Louis Alibert Adrien Louis Marie Alibert, known as Louis Alibert (''Loís Alibèrt'' in Occitan; 1884–1959) was a French linguist, born on October 12, 1884 in Bram in the Aude and died on April 16, 1959 in Montpellier. He specialized in Occitan and Langued ...

as secretary.On SEO and IEO History, read "L'IEO e l'occitanisme dempuèi 1945", ''Estudis Occitans'' 18, 2nd semèstre de 1995 At the end of World War II, as both the Felibrige and the SEO had been discredited by the involvement of some of their leaders in the collaboration, some occitanists decided to create a new institution, the IEO, with a clear message: the IEO is an offspring of the Resistance.

Presidents of the IEO

Affiliates

Taula redona - Universitat Occitana d'Estiu de Nimes 2015

IEO-Ideco: Ideco is the publishing house and distribution network of the Institut d'Estudis Occitans. It is based in Puèglaurenç. EOE: the EOE or Escòla Occitana d'Estiu is the Occitan summer school. It is one-week long and takes place every year in August in Vilanuèva d'Òlt. UOE: the UOE or Universitat Occitana d'Estiu is the Occitan summer university. It is one-week long and takes place every year in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of ...

Controversy

The IEO went through a number of crises throughout its history, the most serious of which in the late 1970s and early 1980s when two ideologies clashed: the populist view of

Ives Roqueta Ives Roqueta (; born 29 February 1936 in Sète, Hérault, died January 4, 2015) was an Occitan author. He played a major role in the country's political and cultural movement. He was the president of the IEO for a number of years and his brother ...

, and a more academic one promoted by

Robèrt Lafont Robèrt Lafont (; March 16, 1923 in Nîmes – June 24, 2009 in Florence) was a French intellectual from Provence. He was a linguist, an author, an historian, an expert in literature and a political theoretician. His name in French reads Robert ...

. This confrontation led to the eviction of Lafont and his followers from the Institute, which nearly sealed the fate of all scientific projects at the IEO, with many researchers finding jobs in universities and the ''Associacion Internacionala d'Estudis Occitans'' ("International Occitan Studies Association"). Most linguists among them migrated also to the '' Gidilòc'' and the ''

Conselh de la Lenga Occitana The Conselh de la Lenga Occitana or CLO or Occitan Language Council is the body responsible for managing and developing the standard variant of the Occitan language Occitan (; oc, occitan, link=no ), also known as ''lenga d'òc'' (; french: ...

'' ("Occitan Language Council"). Nevertheless, the IEO has remained the leading organization in the field of cultural life and by far the most popular body among Occitan activists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Institut D'estudis Occitans 1945 establishments in France Occitan language Organizations established in 1945