Michel Chodkiewicz
Michel Chodkiewicz (13 May 1929 – 31 March 2020) was a French author and a scholar of Sufism, especially Akbarian teaching.
Michel Chodkiewicz | |
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Chodkiewicz at Editions du Seuil, 1987 | |
Born | |
Died | 31 March 2020 90) | (aged
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
- "French Islamic Thinker, Michel Chodkiewicz, Passed Away". Karar.com. 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- Chodkiewicz, Michel. "Chodkiewicz". Catalogue général.
- Claire Brière, "A convert to Islam who opposes the fundamentalists" (in French), Le Nouvel Observateur, February 7th, 1986. [Archieves: page 59, page 62].
- Elias, "Interview with Michel Chodkiewicz" (in French), Tribune d'Octobre (Montreuil, No 19, March 1990) [Archieve]