William McGuckin (also Mac Guckin and MacGuckin), known as Baron de Slane (

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ireland, 12 August 1801 - Paris, France, 4 August 1878) was an Irish orientalist. He became a French national on 31 December 1838. and held the post of the Principal Interpreter of Arabic of the French Army from 1 September 1846 until his retirement on 28 March 1872. He is known for publishing and translating a number of important medieval Arabic texts.

Biography

De Slane was born in Belfast, the son of James McGuckin and Euphemia Hughes. After graduating from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, in 1822 he moved to Paris and studied oriental languages under Silvestre de Sacy. In 1828 he was admitted to the

Société Asiatique The Société Asiatique (Asiatic Society) is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging ...

, a French

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership m ...

. The society financed Joseph Toussaint Reinaud and de Slane to prepare a critical edition of Abu'l-Fida (أبو الفداء)'s Arabic geography, ''Taqwīm al-Buldān'' (تقويم البلدان) - "Locating the Lands" (1321). This was published in 1840. Between 1843 and 1846 he was sent on a mission by the French Government to catalogue important documents in the libraries of Algiers and Constantine. During this time he also served as an Interpreter of Arabic in the French African Army and in 1846 he was appointed as Principal Interpreter for the French African army. He served as Professor of Arabic at the École de langues orientales in Paris and from 1849 also taught Turkish. He was also commissioned by the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

to catalogue their Arabic manuscripts. On 30 October 1826 he married Angadrème Sophie Félicité de la Barre de Mérona. She died seven years later on 24 September 1833. He then married Anne Elise Sutton de Clonard and together they had five children. De Slane was awarded French citizenship on 31 December 1838. He died aged 76 in Passy, France on the 4 August 1878. In France he was awarded following honours: *

Chevalier of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, 24 September 1846 * Officer of the Legion of Honour, 26 December 1852 * Officer of the Instruction Publique * Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, awarded by King of Sardinia * Elected Member, 1862, of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

* Founding Member of the Association Historique Algérienne

Selected publications

Arabic text of Abu'l-Fida's ''Takwin al-Buldan'', one volume, 1840 * Translation of a section of Ibn Battuta's

rihla ''Riḥla'' ( ar, رحلة) refers to both a journey and the written account of that journey, or travelogue. It constitutes a genre of Arabic literature. Associated with the medieval Islamic notion of "travel in search of knowledge" (الرحلة ...

, 1843 * Translation of Ibn Khallikan's biographical dictionary, four volumes, 1843-1871 * * * * Arabic text of Ibn Khaldun's ''Histoire des Berbères'', 2 volumes, 1847-1851 * * Translation of Ibn Khaldun's ''Histoire des Berbères'', 4 volumes, 1852-1856 * * * * Translation of '' Al-Bakri'', 1859, one volume
Revised edition with corrections
(1913), Tangiers: Adolphe Jourdan. Translation of Ibn Khaldun's ''

Muqaddimah The ''Muqaddimah'', also known as the ''Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun'' ( ar, مقدّمة ابن خلدون) or ''Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomena'' ( grc, Προλεγόμενα), is a book written by the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun in 1377 which records ...

'' (''Prolegomena''), three volumes, 1863-1868 * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slane, William McGuckin de Irish orientalists Irish Arabists French Arabists French philologists Members of the Société Asiatique Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French translators Arabic–French translators Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Writers from Belfast 1801 births 1878 deaths