Paul Édouard Passy (; 13 January 1859,

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

21 March 1940,

Bourg-la-Reine Bourg-la-Reine () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History In 1792, during the French Revolution, Bourg-la-Reine (meaning "Town of the Queen") was renamed Bourg-l'Égalité (mea ...

) was a French

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

, founder of the

International Phonetic Association The International Phonetic Association (IPA; French: ', ''API'') is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA's major contribution to phonetics is the Interna ...

in 1886. He took part in the elaboration of the

International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...

Early life

Paul Passy was born into a notable French family: his father

Frédéric Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor * Frédéric Bazille, Impr ...

, a noted economist and politician, was the first recipient (along with

Henry Dunant Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 182830 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, and social activist. He was the visionary, promoter, and co-founder of the Red Cross. In 1901, he received th ...

) of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology ...

in 1901. Passy mastered English, German, and Italian as a child, and studied Sanskrit and Gothic Latin at the École des Hautes Études. He graduated from university at 19 and spent ten years as a language teacher (English and German) in public schools as an alternative to military service. Around this time he also became a committed Christian.

Career

Passy was largely self-taught in phonetics; his interest was prompted by his dissatisfaction with the methods of language teaching at the time. In 1886, Passy founded the Phonetic Teachers' Association, which later became the

. His friend

Otto Jespersen Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language. Steven Mithen described him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth cen ...

was an early member of the association. Passy gave private lessons in phonetics and French pronunciation at his home in Bourg-la-Reine; among his students was Daniel Jones. In 1894, he took up a chair in General and Comparative Phonetics at the École des Hautes Études (a position created especially for him), and by 1897 had become an assistant director of the school. Apart from a four-year hiatus beginning in 1913, when he was dismissed on political grounds for opposing an extension to mandatory military service, he remained at the École des Hautes Études until his retirement in 1926. In 1896, he began to give lectures and practical phonetics classes at the Sorbonne, where he was the first teacher to insist that women be allowed to attend his classes.

Religion

Passy was devoted to

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

. He founded an agricultural colony called ''Liéfra'', named after ''

Liberté, égalité, fraternité ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolutio ...

'', near Fontette,

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Biography of Paul Passy
at University of Warwick ELT Archive 1859 births 1940 deaths Linguists from France Passy family {{france-linguist-stub