Geoffrey Lewis (scholar)

Geoffrey Lewis
Geoffrey Lewis
	File:Geoffrey Lewis Lewis (1920–2008).png
Born	Geoffrey Lewis Lewis; 19 June 1920; London, England
Died	12 February 2008 (aged 87); Oxford, England
Spouse	Raphaela Rhoda Bale Seideman (m. 1941; died 2004)
Children	2

Geoffrey Lewis Lewis CMG FBA (19 June 1920 – 12 February 2008) was an English Professor of the Turkish language at the University of Oxford. He was well known as the author of Teach Yourself Turkish and academic books about Turkish and Turkey.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Early life and education

Lewis was born in London, England in 1920 and educated at University College School and St John's College, Oxford (MA 1945, DPhil 1950; James Mew Arabic Scholar, 1947).

At St John's College Lewis initially studied classics. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he served from 1940 to 1945 as a radar operator in the Royal Air Force. Posted primarily in Libya and Egypt, he returned to Oxford afterwards and switched his studies to Arabic and Persian.

He initially studied Turkish as a hobby: Turkish was not taught at Oxford before Lewis was appointed to his academic post.

Career

Lecturer in Turkish, 1950–54, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, 1954–64, Senior Lecturer in Turkish, 1964–86, Oxford
Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford, 1961.
Visiting Professor: Robert College, Istanbul, 1959–68; Princeton University, 1970–71, 1974; UCLA, 1975
British Academy Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Turkey, 1984
Professor of Turkish, University of Oxford, 1986.

Honours

Vice-President, 1972–2003, President, 2003–2008, Anglo-Turkish Society
Turkish Government Certificate of Merit, 1973
FBA 1979
President, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, 1981–83 (award for outstanding contributions for many years to Middle Eastern studies in UK, 2005).
President, B'nai B'rith Oxford Lodge, 1989
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Exceptional Service Plaque, 1991
Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey, 1998
Honorary doctorates from the University of Istanbul and the Bosphorus University
CMG, 1999^[5]
Gunnar Jarring Lecturer, Stockholm, 2002

Publications

Teach Yourself Turkish, 1953, 2nd edition 1989
Modern Turkey, 1955, 4th edition 1974
(trans., with annotations) Katib Chelebi, The Balance of Truth, 1957
Plotiniana Arabica, 1959
(with Barbara Hodge) A Study in Education for International Misunderstanding (Cyprus School History Textbooks), 1966
Turkish Grammar, 1967, Second edition 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-870036-9.
(with M. S. Spink) Albucasis on Surgery and Instruments, 1973
The Book of Dede Korkut, 1974
The Atatürk I Knew, 1981
Thickhead and other Turkish Stories, 1988
Just a Diplomat, 1992
The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. 1999 Oxford: Oxford University Press

References

^ Repp, R. C. (2010). "Geoffrey Lewis Lewis 1920–2008". In Johnston, Ron (ed.). Proceedings of the British Academy: Volume 166: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows IX (PDF). pp. 215–224. ISBN 9780197264751.
^ Barchard, David (12 March 2008). "Geoffrey Lewis". The Guardian.
^ "Professor Geoffrey Lewis". The Times. 20 February 2008.
^ "Honoured for his Turkish expertise". Oxford Mail. 27 February 2008.
^ "Diplomatic Service and Overseas Lists - Orders". BBC News. 31 December 1998.

[Repp-1] Repp, R. C. (2010). "Geoffrey Lewis Lewis 1920–2008". In Johnston, Ron (ed.). Proceedings of the British Academy: Volume 166: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows IX (PDF). pp. 215–224. ISBN 9780197264751.

[Barchard-2] Barchard, David (12 March 2008). "Geoffrey Lewis". The Guardian.

[Times-3] "Professor Geoffrey Lewis". The Times. 20 February 2008.

[Mail-4] "Honoured for his Turkish expertise". Oxford Mail. 27 February 2008.

[BBC-5] "Diplomatic Service and Overseas Lists - Orders". BBC News. 31 December 1998.

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