Denis Sinor (born Dénes Zsinór, April 17, 1916 in
Kolozsvár (Austria-Hungary, now
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...
, Romania) – January 12, 2011 in
Bloomington,
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
) was a Distinguished
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
of
Central Asian Studies at the
Department of Central Eurasian Studies at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
and a tenured lecturer at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
between 1948 and 1962, and was one of the world's leading scholars for the
history of Central Asia
The history of Central Asia concerns the history of the various peoples that have inhabited Central Asia. The lifestyle of such people has been determined primarily by the area's climate and geography of Asia, geography. The aridity of the region ...
. Under his directorship, the Central Asian Studies at Indiana University became one of the world's foremost centers for Central Asian history, languages and linguistics.
He grew up in Hungary and Switzerland and went to university in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. During the Second World War, he was a member of the French resistance, served in the French army, and became a French citizen. Sinor wrote eight books and edited an additional thirteen. He authored more than 160 articles in several languages such as English, German, French, Hungarian, Russian and many other, more than 150 book reviews, and also contributed to ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''. Sinor served as editor of the ''
Journal of Asian History'', between the publication's inception in 1967 and his death in 2011.
Selected works
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* Sinor, Denis. 1999. “The Mongols in the West”. ''Journal of Asian History''; 33 (1). Harrassowitz Verlag: 1–44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933117.
References
External links
Denis Sinor Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University
1916 births
2011 deaths
Historians of Central Asia
Indiana University Bloomington faculty
Historical linguists
Linguists of Altaic languages
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
{{CAsia-studies-bio-stub
Naturalized citizens of France