Ioannis (Yiannis) Psycharis was a Russian-born philologist who was much of his life a national of France. He was of Greek descent. He was also a writer and a promoter of Demotic Greek.
Occupation
linguist, human rights defender, writer, university teacher
Citizenship
Greece, France
Born
May 15, 1854
Died
September 29, 1929
Overview
Ioannis (Yiannis) Psycharis (Greek: Ιωάννης (Γιάννης) Ψυχάρης; French: Jean Psychari; 1854–1929) was a Russian Empire born philologist who was much of his life a national of France. He was of Greek descent. He was also a writer and a promoter of Demotic Greek.
Biography
Psycharis was born on 15 May 1854 in Odessa (in modern-day Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire), in a merchant family of Chiot descent. His mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by his grandmother in Marseille. He also spent some time with his father in Constantinople and later moved to Paris.
He studied at the École des langues orientales.
Career
Psycharis was director of studies at the École pratique des hautes études after 1885, and then professor at the École des langues orientales from 1903 to 1928, succeeding .
