Olivier Masson (3 April 1922, Paris - 23 February 1997, Paris) was a French linguist interested in Greek, Cypriot and Phoenician
epigraphy
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
, especially with the
Cypriot syllabary
The Cypriot or Cypriote syllabary is a syllabic script used in Iron Age Cyprus, from about the 11th to the 4th centuries BCE, when it was replaced by the Greek alphabet. A pioneer of that change was King Evagoras of Salamis. It is descended fr ...
and Cypriot archaeology in general. He was professor of Greek philology at the
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
.
He specialized in
Greek inscriptions from Cyprus as well as in the study of the
Cypro-Minoan script
The Cypro-Minoan syllabary (CM) is an undeciphered syllabary used on the island of Cyprus during the late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1050 BC). The term "Cypro-Minoan" was coined by Arthur Evans in 1909 based on its visual similarity to Linear A on ...
, compiling a corpus of inscriptions of the latter (now obsolete, but the more recent corpus of S. Ferrara is only partially realised).
His wife was
Emilia Masson
Émilia Masson (née Émilia Jovanovic-Slavinski; May 24 1940 - August 7 2017) was a linguist and epigrapher whose areas of research included the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan writing system from ancient Cyprus, and the ancient Anatolian language Hit ...
(1940–2017), née Jovanovic, originally from Serbia. A Hittologist by education, she also made a significant contribution to the archaeology of the Balkans and Asia Minor of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, as well as in the studies of inscriptions from Cyprus and the Vinca culture. After her death, Olivier and Emilia's daughter Diana Masson donated her parents' library to the Center for Cypriot Studies.
Publications
*Masson, O. (1957)
Les inscriptions étéochypriotes: II. IV.Syria, 34 (1/2), 61-80.
*Masson, O. (1957)
Cylindres et cachets chypriotes portant des caractères chyprominoens ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', ''81''(1), 6-37.
*Masson, O. (1981)
À propos des inscriptions chypriotes de Kafizin ''Bulletin de correspondance hellénique'', ''105''(2), 623-649.
*Masson, O. (1984)
Cesnola et le Tresor de Curium (i) ''Cahiers du Centre d’Etudes Chypriotes'', ''1''(1), 16-26.
*Masson, O., & Hermary, A. (1988)
Le voyage de Ludwig Ross à Chypre en 1845 et les antiquités chypriotes du Musée de Berlin ''Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes'', ''9''(1), 3-10.
*Masson, O. (1990)
Paul Perdrizet à Chypre en 1896 ''Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes'', ''13''(1), 27-42.
*Masson, O. (1992)
Encore les royaumes chypriotes dans la liste d'Esarhaddon ''Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes'', ''18''(2), 27-30.
*Masson, O. (1992)
Diplomates et amateurs d'antiquités à Chypre vers 1866-1878 ''Journal des savants'', ''1''(1), 123-154.
*Masson, O. (1996)
La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola ''Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes'', ''25''(1), 3-28.
*Masson, O. (1997)
Bibliographie thématique des travaux d'Olivier Masson concernant Chypre Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes, 27, 3-13.
References
1922 births
1997 deaths
Linguists from France
Writers from Paris
20th-century linguists
Scholars of Greek language
Phoenician-Punic studies
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