Institut d'Estudis Occitans

The Institut d'Estudis Occitans (Occitan pronunciation: [istiˈtyd desˈtyðiz utsiˈtas]), or IEO, or Occitan Studies Institute, or Institute for Occitan Studies, is a cultural association that was founded in 1945 by a group of Occitan and French writers including Jean Cassou, Tristan Tzara, Ismaël Girard, Max Roqueta, Renat Nelli, and Pierre Rouquette.^[1] It aims at both maintaining and developing the language and influence of Occitania through the supervision, harmonization and normalization of everything dealing with the Occitan life and culture. The IEO is divided into regional and departmental sections and local circles that cover the whole of the country from the cities (called in vernacular language) of Lemòtges and Clarmont up north to Marselha, Tolosa or Bordèu down south. There is even one in Paris. What is the more, a number of carefully targeted activities are sponsored by groups and other associations affiliated with the Institute, or by members themselves. The IEO is the Occitan counterpart of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Its motto is La fe sens òbras mòrta es (see picture) (Dead is faith without art).

History^[2]

A first Institute for Occitan Studies had been created around 1923 as a section of the League of Meridional Homeland (Ligue de la Patrie Méridionale), but had a short lifespan. In 1930, occitanists created the Society for Occitan Studies (SEO). At the end of World War II, as both the Felibrige and the SEO had been discredited by the involvement of some of their leaders in the collaboration, some occitanists decided to create a new institution, the IEO, with a clear message: the IEO is an offspring of the antinazi resistance.

Presidents of the IEO

President	From	To
Jean Cassou	1945	1952
Max Roqueta	1952	1957
Pierre Azéma	1957	1959
Robèrt Lafont	1959	1962
Pierre Bec	1962	1980
Patrick Choffrut	1980	1981
Alain Giacomo	1981	1986
Robert Marty	1986	1997
Philippe Carbonne	1997	2001
David Grosclaude	2001	2010
Pierre Brechet	2010	Present

National organisation and regional sections

IEO nacionau

Ostal d'Occitània
11, carrièra Malcosinat
F-31000 Tolosa

• contact: Pierre Brechet (president)

tel: [phone]
http://ieo.oc.free.fr/

IEO Aquitània

• 3 bis, avenue du Vallon

33600 Pessac
Occitanie
France

• contact: Olivier Sirgue (president)

IEO Lemosin

• 2, chamin de la Codercha

19510 Mas Seren
Occitània
França
[e-mail]

• contact: Joan-Maria Caunet, chairman of IEO Lemosin

http://ieo.lemosin.free.fr/

IEO Lengadòc

• Centre regional de difusion Lo Camèl

BP 4040
34545 Besièrs Cedex
Occitània
França

• contact: Jòrdi Peladan

4, rue des Mésanges
30000 Nîmes
Occitanie
France
tel: [phone]

IEO Miègjorn-Pirenèus

• IEO Miègjorn-Pirenèus
• contact: Miquèu Taiac (president)

[e-mail]

IEO París

• IEO Paris

31, rue Vandrezanne
75013 Paris
France

• contact: [e-mail]

http://ieo.paris.free.fr

IEO Provença

• Ostau de Provença

Pargue Jordan
8 bis, avenguda Jules Ferry
13100 Ais de Provença
Occitània
França
http://c-oc.org/ieo/provenca

• contact: Joan Saubrement (president)

[e-mail]

Affiliates

IEO-Ideco: Ideco is the publishing house and distribution network of the Institut d'Estudis Occitans. It is based in Puèglaurenç.

EOE: the EOE or Escòla Occitana d'Estiu is the Occitan summer school. It is one-week long and takes place every year in august in Vilanuèva d'Òlt.

UOE: the UOE or Universitat Occitana d'Estiu is the Occitan summer university. It is one-week long and takes place every year in Nîmes.

Controversy

The IEO went through a number of crises throughout its history, the most serious of which in the late 1970s and early '80s when two ideologies clashed: the populist view, Ives Roqueta's, and a more academic one, Robèrt Lafont's. This confrontation led to the eviction of Robèrt Lafont and his followers from the Institute, which nearly sealed the fate of all scientific projects at the IEO, with many researchers finding jobs in universities and the Associacion Internacionala d'Estudis Occitans (International Occitan Studies Association). Most linguists among them migrated also to the Gidilòc and the Conselh de la Lenga Occitana (Occitan Language Council). Nevertheless, the IEO has remained to the day the leading organization in the field of cultural life and by far the most popular body among Occitan activists.

References

1. ^ Post-Medieval Occitan Literature. The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French, Oxford University Press, 1995, 2005, via Answers.com.
2. ^ On SEO and IEO History, read "L'IEO e l'occitanisme dempuèi 1945", Estudis Occitans 18, 2nd semèstre de 1995

External links

• Official IEO site
• Mercator Media, in English
• Via occitana-catalana, in English