Georges Bohas

Georges Bohas is a Professor of Arabic literature at the École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon) and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Specializing in Arabic textual editing and translation, he is a leading scholar of Timbuktu manuscripts and the Alexander Romance. His work bridges academic research with public engagement, including co-translating the 'Roman des Baïbars' series and publishing accessible works on Arab popular literature. A Senior Member of the IUF since 2007, he directed the ANR VECMAS project (2009–2012), focusing on Sub-Saharan Arabic manuscripts. His research spans Arabic linguistics, medieval grammatical traditions, and cultural history, with notable contributions to the study of morphological paradigms, phonosemantics, and lexical organization in Semitic languages. Collaborating with institutions like Actes-Sud and the Mamma Haïdara Library, his work preserves and disseminates marginalized texts, such as the Timbuktu manuscripts. His publications blend scholarly rigor with public accessibility, reflecting a commitment to bridging academic and lay audiences.

• Education: Agrégation diploma in Arabic (France’s highest teaching credential)

His research interests focus on Arabic literary and linguistic traditions, including: classical Arabic grammar, manuscript preservation, phonological symbolism, and the intersection of literature and history. Recent work emphasizes submorphemic lexical organization and the interplay between sound and meaning in Semitic languages.

Publications highlight his expertise in Arabic metrics, Qur'anic stylistics, and the analysis of medieval grammatical treatises. Key projects include the bilingual edition of Le Roman d’Alexandre à Tombouctou, which recovered a forgotten manuscript from Timbuktu’s legal texts. His work on Bar Hebraeus’ Syriac grammar and Ibn Ǧinnī’s theories underscores his comparative approach to Semitic languages.

• Awards: Senior IUF Membership (2007)

Grants and leadership include managing the ANR VECMAS project, which validated and published critical editions of Sub-Saharan Arabic manuscripts. His collaborations with INSA Lyon advanced digital preservation techniques for fragile manuscripts. Current work continues exploring Timbuktu’s textual heritage and the theoretical foundations of Arabic linguistics.

Labs/Teams: Member of the ICAR laboratory (Interdisciplinary Center for Arabic and Islamic Research), ENS Lyon.