Gérard Fussman

"Words from Asia and the Pacific" is a series of interviews conducted by Jean-François Sabouret, Director of the Asie-Imasie Network (CNRS), with humanities researchers and experts on Asia and the Pacific.
Gérard Fussman, who was born on May 17, 1940 in Lens (Pas-de-Calais), is a French Indianist. An admirer of Georges Dumézil's writings, he began learning Sanskrit in his first year at the ENS, even as he intended to join the French School at Athens. He graduated as an agrégé in Classics in 1962 and became assistant archaeologist to Daniel Schulmberger for the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan until 1965. He was a research associate at the CNRS from 1968 to 1972, then, after a thesis in Indian and Indo-Iranian linguistics, he taught Sanskrit at the University of Strasbourg from 1972 to 1984. In 1983, he was elected Chair of the Indian World of the Collège de France.
His work consists mainly of studies on languages, inscriptions, currencies and monuments of northern India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
An illustrated bibliographical selection is presented at the end of the film.