Colette Caillat
Encyclopedia
Prof. Dr. Colette Caillat (1921–2007) was a French
professor of Sanskrit
and comparative grammar. She was also one of the world's leading Jain scholars.
, Seine-et-Oise
, January 15, 1921. She embarked upon her academic career with the study of Classical Latin
and Greek
, focusing on their literary and grammatical aspects. This led her to the study of Sanskrit under Louis Renou
and Jules Bloch
when he replaced Prof. Renou who was visiting India. Prof. Bloch played a key role in exposing his students to Indian classical languages such as Pali
, Prakrit
and Apabhramsha
as well as modern Indo-Aryan languages
. Encouraged by the strong presence of Indian students in his class, Bloch taught his students various details of Indian life.
After clearing the French “Agrégation
” civil service examination, Mme Caillat taught at various secondary schools, until she found a post at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique
. She was then free to devote all her time to Indian studies, starting with a Mémoire on nominal derivation in Middle Indo-Aryan which led her to read Jain texts under the supervision of Prof. Walther Schubring in Hamburg
. Prof. Schubring led Mme Caillat firmly on the path of Jain studies and encouraged her to participate in the Critical Pali Dictionary.
Prof. Caillat first visited India in 1963 and remained a regular visitor to India throughout her life. In India, she developed close contact with Prof. A.N. Upadhye, Pandit D.D. Malvania, Prof. H.C. Bhayani, Pandit Sukhlalji
and Muni Punyavijayaji. She stayed and worked several times in Mysore and Ahmedabad.
Prof. Caillat first taught Sanskrit and Comparative Grammar at the University of Lyon
from 1960 to 1966. She was appointed to the Sorbonne University (then University of Paris-3) in 1967, as the successor of Prof. Louis Renou who had died suddenly, and taught there until 1988, when she retired. She died on January 15, 2007. Her academic tradition is continued by her students, included among whom is Nalini Balbir
.
, commander of Ordre national du Mérite
, and commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques. She was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
in 1987, and was a member of several other academies and scholarly associations.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
professor of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and comparative grammar. She was also one of the world's leading Jain scholars.
Biography
Caillat was born in Saint-Leu-la-ForêtSaint-Leu-la-Forêt
Saint-Leu-la-Forêt is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:In 1806 the commune of Saint-Leu-la-Forêt merged with the neighboring commune of Taverny, resulting in the creation of the commune of Saint-Leu-Taverny.In 1821 the commune...
, Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
, January 15, 1921. She embarked upon her academic career with the study of Classical Latin
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, focusing on their literary and grammatical aspects. This led her to the study of Sanskrit under Louis Renou
Louis Renou
Louis Renou was the pre-eminent French Indologist of the twentieth centuryAfter passing the agregation examination in 1920, Louis Renou taught for a year at the lycee in Rouen. He then took a sabbatical, read the works of Sanskrit scholars and attended the classes of Meillet. Henceforth he opted...
and Jules Bloch
Jules Bloch
Jules Bloch was a French linguist who studied Indian languages, and was also interested in languages in their cultural and social contexts.- Bibliography :...
when he replaced Prof. Renou who was visiting India. Prof. Bloch played a key role in exposing his students to Indian classical languages such as Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
, Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
and Apabhramsha
Apabhramsha
Apabhraṃśa is a term used by Sanskrit grammarians since Patañjali to refer to dialects that deviate from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. The term in Sanskrit literally means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical language". It is used as a cover term for the dialects forming the transition between the late...
as well as modern Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
. Encouraged by the strong presence of Indian students in his class, Bloch taught his students various details of Indian life.
After clearing the French “Agrégation
Agrégation
In France, the agrégation is a civil service competitive examination for some positions in the public education system. The laureates are known as agrégés...
” civil service examination, Mme Caillat taught at various secondary schools, until she found a post at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique
Centre national de la recherche scientifique
The National Center of Scientific Research is the largest governmental research organization in France and the largest fundamental science agency in Europe....
. She was then free to devote all her time to Indian studies, starting with a Mémoire on nominal derivation in Middle Indo-Aryan which led her to read Jain texts under the supervision of Prof. Walther Schubring in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Prof. Schubring led Mme Caillat firmly on the path of Jain studies and encouraged her to participate in the Critical Pali Dictionary.
Prof. Caillat first visited India in 1963 and remained a regular visitor to India throughout her life. In India, she developed close contact with Prof. A.N. Upadhye, Pandit D.D. Malvania, Prof. H.C. Bhayani, Pandit Sukhlalji
Sukhlal Sanghvi
Sukhlal Sanghvi also known as Pandit Sukhlalji was a Jain Scholar and Philosopher. He belonged to the Sthanakvasi sect of Jainism. Pandit Sukhlal lost his eyesight at the age of sixteen on account of small-pox. However, he overcame this handicap and became profoundly versed in Jain logic and rose...
and Muni Punyavijayaji. She stayed and worked several times in Mysore and Ahmedabad.
Prof. Caillat first taught Sanskrit and Comparative Grammar at the University of Lyon
University of Lyon
The University of Lyon , located in Lyon and Saint Etienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 16 institutions of higher education...
from 1960 to 1966. She was appointed to the Sorbonne University (then University of Paris-3) in 1967, as the successor of Prof. Louis Renou who had died suddenly, and taught there until 1988, when she retired. She died on January 15, 2007. Her academic tradition is continued by her students, included among whom is Nalini Balbir
Nalini Balbir
Nalini Balbir is a renowned French Indologist who lives in Paris. Born of a French mother and an Indian father, she is a scholar of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. She was a direct student and protegee of the Sanskrit scholar and renowned Indologist Prof. Dr. Mme. Colette...
.
Awards and honors
Prof. Caillat was an officer of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, commander of Ordre national du Mérite
Ordre National du Mérite
The Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
, and commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques. She was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...
in 1987, and was a member of several other academies and scholarly associations.
Academic publications
Her contribution to the field of Jain studies and Middle Indo-Aryan linguistics is manifold. Apart from a number of articles, her main books are the following:- 1965 Les expiations dans le rituel ancien des religieux Jaina, Paris, 1965 (D.Litt. thesis), translated into English as Atonements in the Ancient Ritual of the Jaina Monks, Ahmedabad, 1975 (L.D. Series 49).
- 1966 Drei Chedasûtras des Jaina-Kanons - Ayâradasâo, Vavahâra, Nisîha. Bearbeitet von Walther Schubring. Mit einem Beitrag von Colette Caillat, Hamburg, 1966.
- 1971 Candâvejjhaya, La Prunelle-cible. Introduction, Edition critique, Traduction, Commentaire, Paris, 1971.
- 1974-75 C. Caillat, A.N. Upadhye and Bal PatilBal PatilBal Patil was a Jain scholar, journalist, social activist and Jain minority status advocate from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was appointed as a member of State Minority Commission by the Govt. of Maharashtra from 2001 to 2004...
, Jainism, Delhi, 1974-75. New edition, 2006.
- 1981 La cosmologie jaina. Présentation de Colette Caillat d'après les documents recueillis par Ravi Kumar, Paris, 1981. The Jain Cosmology. English rendering by K.R. Norman, New Delhi; revised and enlarged edition, New Delhi, 2004.
- 1985 Edition of Recueil d'articles de Jules Bloch 1906-1955, Paris, 1985.
- 1999 Yogîndu, Lumière de l'Absolu. Traduit de l'apabhramsha par Nalini Balbir et Colette Caillat, Paris, Payot, Rivages, 1999.
- 2007 co-edition, with Nalini Balbir, of the volume Jaina Studies, Proceedings of the World Sanskrit Conference, Helsinki, 2003; in the press).
- In 1981, Mme Caillat, who was the head of the research group "Equipe de Philologie Bouddhique et Jaina", organised in Strasbourg the first International Jain Symposium outside India. The Proceedings were published in 1983 (Indologica Taurinensia, Vol 11).
- In 1988, a Felicitation volume was offered in her memory (published as Indologica Taurinensia, Vol 14).
- In 2007, 1000 copies of Acarya Joindu's Yogasara were distributed free of cost in her memory (published as Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series, Vol 10).
Web references
- www.aibl.fr/fr/membres/academ/caillat.html
- www.ivry.cnrs.fr/iran/Membres/CV/Caillat.htm
- www.ivry.cnrs.fr/iran/PDF/CCaillat-UMR.pdf
- www.springerlink.com/index/N4854KM4400016P5.pdf
- www.payot-rivages.fr/asp/auteur.asp?id=970
- www.editionsducerf.fr/html/fiche/ficheauteur.asp?n_aut=7144
- pustakalaya.wordpress.com/2007/02/04/colette-caillat-1921-2007
- www.ellipse.ch/Auteur.aspx?Auteur=2668450