Kurdistan Chronicle

Joyce Blau, an Egyptian-born French linguist renowned for her expertise in Kurdish language and literature – and thus known as the ‘Godmother of Kurdish Studies’ – passed away on October 24 at the age of 92. In honor of her monumental career, she was honored by several senior Kurdish leaders and experts on Kurds.

Martin van Bruinessen, Emeritus Professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and a leading author on the Kurds known for his seminal work Agha, Shaikh and State: The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan told Kurdistan Chronicle that Blau was an activist and a scholar strongly committed to supporting the Kurdish struggle for self-determination and protecting Kurdish culture.

“Born into a Jewish family in Egypt, Blau was involved in efforts to bring Palestinians and Jews together during the struggles for decolonization and workers’ rights. Exiled to France in 1955, she remained politically active within the solidarity movement centered around the struggles for national liberation,” he said.

“This is how she first encountered the Kurdish movement, namely through the Kurdish lawyer, politician, and writer Kamuran Bedirxan, whose student she became. Blau’s first publication was a book on the Kurdish question, published in Brussels in 1963. Later, many studies of Kurdish language and literature followed.”

“She succeeded Bedirxan as professor of Kurdish language and civilization,” van Bruinessen noted, “and was for a long time the only professor in Europe who taught about the Kurds. She used this position to help Kurds who were exiled in France for political reasons. For instance, she offered the politician Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and the human rights lawyer Mehmet Ali Aslan positions as her teaching assistants. Several generations of scholars in Europe are indebted to her.”

A go-between for France and Kurdistan

France’s Consul General in Erbil Yann Braem told Kurdistan Chronicle that Blau played an important role in the field of Kurdish studies in France, especially with her PhD thesis on the dialects of Amedi and Sinjar.

She also headed the Kurdish Studies department of the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) and contributed to creating scholarship about the Kurdish language and Kurdish civilization. “From an intellectual perspective, she has really paved the way for a lot of researchers to deepen our knowledge of Kurdish society,” Braem said.

The French photographer Edith Maubec, the wife of the famous French journalist Paul Maubec who also goes by the pen name Chris Kutschera, was someone who Blau helped with her extensive knowledge of Kurdish affairs.

Maubec remembered her as an optimistic person and a problem-solver with a strong character. “She knew everything about Kurds. When I was writing captions for my photographs, and I forgot someone, I always asked Joyce, and she immediately knew the answer,” she told Kurdistan Chronicle.

Nazand Begikhani, Vincent Wright Chair and Visiting Professor at Sciences Po Paris and General Secretary of the Kurdish Institute of Paris (KIP), added that Blau was an expert in Kurdish language and literature and taught several generations of students, including foreigners and second generations of Kurdish youth in the diaspora.

“She was a very kind and intelligent woman with a sense of humor and lots of positive energy. She was a dear friend and became family for many exiled Kurds in Paris, who left their homeland and family behind,” Begikhani added. “After her retirement from INALCO, where she taught, she worked at the KIP on a voluntary basis and was a board member and treasurer for more than two decades.”

KIP was founded by Yilmaz Gunay and Kendal Nezan in 1984. It is the oldest Kurdish institute in the West and has served as an embassy for the Kurds from the four parts of Kurdistan. “KIP has played a vital role in strengthening the relationship between France and Kurdistan,” Braem said.

“They have been instrumental in mobilizing Kurdish and French decision makers, intellectuals, researchers, academics, and people of influence. Danielle Mitterand, for instance, was very close to Nezan, so Blau participated in these very important endeavors of KIP.”

Emmanuel Poilane, Secretary of the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation, said that he worked closely with Blau for more than 15 years. “She was the go-between for France and Kurdistan. She and Nezan were key figures in the relations between France and Kurdistan.”

Serving Kurdish language, literature, and culture

Braem remembers meeting her on the 40th anniversary of the KIP. “She still had duties at KIP, and I had contacts with her. Her passing has been a big shock for all of us who are interested in the Kurdish issue.”

“We can see that also from the number of people who have paid tribute to her memory during the different ceremonies that took place in Paris this month. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, for example, was present during the burial ceremony. So, it’s a testimony to her legacy and all the work that she had done to ensure that Kurdish issues were present on the France intellectual and political scene,” Braem said.

Last year, on May 13, the Joyce Blau Library was inaugurated at the French Institute for the Near East by the French Consulate General in Erbil, in the presence of Kurdish officials and herself.

“The naming the library was a testimony of the consideration that French academics have in relation to all the work she has been doing and to her contribution to scientific studies on the Kurdish language and Kurdish society.”

“I extend my deepest condolences to the family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances of Professor Joyce Blau,” Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a condolence statement on October 25.

“Ms. Joyce Blau was a loyal friend to the Kurdistan people, who through her work, research, and publications, served the Kurdish language, literature, and culture,” Prime Minister Barzani concluded.