Michel Chodkiewicz

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Michel Chodkiewicz
Michel-Chodkiewicz.jpg
Chodkiewicz at Editions du Seuil, 1987
Born(1929-05-13)13 May 1929
Paris, France
Died31 March 2020(2020-03-31) (aged 90)

Michel Chodkiewicz (13 May 1929 – 31 March 2020) was a French author and a scholar of Sufism, especially Akbarian teaching.

Early life[]

Chodkiewicz was from the Chodkiewicz family, a noble family of the Polish aristocracy who settled in France in 1832. He was born in Paris in 1929 and completed most of his education there.[1] He was Director-General then President and CEO of Editions du Seuil from 1977 to 1989.[2] He became director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales where he conducted seminars on Ibn 'Arabi.

He converted to Islam as the "outcome of a personal search begun as a teenager [...] because Catholicism did not provide satisfactory answers".[3] During a trip to the Arab countries, he discovered Sufism and converted to Islam around the age of seventeen.[4]

Main publications[]

  • Émir Abd el-Kader, Écrits spirituels, presentation, translation and notes, Seuil, 1982 ; reprint 1994.
  • Awhad al-Din Balyani, Épître sur l'Unicité absolue, presentation, translation and notes, Les Deux Océans, 1982.
  • Le Sceau des Saints, Prophétie et Sainteté dans la doctrine d'Ibn 'Arabî, Éditions Gallimard, 1986; reprint 2012.
  • Ibn 'Arabî, Les Illuminations de La Mecque, texts chosen from al-Futûhât al-Makkîya (in collaboration with W.C. Chittick, C. Chodkiewicz, D. Gril and J.W. Morris), Sindbad, 1988; reprint with subtitle Anthologie présentée par Michel Chodkiewicz, Albin Michel/Spiritualités vivantes, 2008.
  • Un Océan sans rivage. Ibn 'Arabî, le Livre et la Loi, Éditions du Seuil, 1992.

Bibliography[]

Chodkiewicz's books were written in French. Below are some of his books that have been translated into English.

  • The Spiritual Writings of Amir 'Abd al-Kader (1982).
  • The Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi (1986).
  • Ibn 'Arabî: The Meccan Revelations (translation of selected chapters, 1988)
  • An Ocean Without Shore: Ibn Arabi, the Book, and the Law (1992)

References[]

  1. ^ "French Islamic Thinker, Michel Chodkiewicz, Passed Away". Karar.com. 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  2. ^ Chodkiewicz, Michel. "Chodkiewicz". Catalogue général.
  3. ^ Claire Brière, "A convert to Islam who opposes the fundamentalists" (in French), Le Nouvel Observateur, February 7th, 1986. [Archives: page 59, page 62].
  4. ^ Elias, "Interview with Michel Chodkiewicz" (in French), Tribune d'Octobre (Montreuil, No 19, March 1990) Archieve
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