Xavier de Planhol (3 February 1926 – 17 May 2016) was a Professor of Geography at the

University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

and a widely acknowledged authority on political geography. From 1958, when he began to publish monographs and articles during his first fieldwork in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, and later in the

Alborz The Alborz ( ) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merge ...

region of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, to his monumental and highly acclaimed, ''Les Nations du Prophète'' (1993) and ''Minorités en Islam'' (1997), he has maintained his deep interest in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the Iranian civilization. He was also a contributor to

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...

, submitting articles ranging from "Abadan" to "Boundaries", "Cholera", "Darya?", "Earthquakes", "Famines", and a series of forthcoming articles on "Geography". A bibliography of de Planhol’s wide-ranging publications up to 1995 has been compiled and published by Professor Daniel Balland in ''Geographie Historique et Culturelle de l’Europe: Hommage au Professor Xavier de Planhol'', by Jean-Robert Pitte (1995).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planhol, Xavier De 1926 births 2016 deaths French geographers Academic staff of the University of Paris Iranologists French Iranologists Members of Academia Europaea Explorers of West Asia