Albert Kazimirski de Biberstein


Albert Félix Ignace Kazimirski or Albin de Biberstein was a French orientalist and Arabist of Polish origin, author of an Arabic-French dictionary and a number of Arab-French translations, including the Quran.

Biography

He learned oriental languages at the University of Warsaw and later University of Berlin.
He took part in the 1830 November Uprising of the kingdom of Poland against the Czar of Russia and the King of Poland Nicholas I of Russia. Like many other Poles, after the defeat of the Polish army in September 1831, he chose to go into exile in France, where he traveled with the historian Joachim Lelewel.
In 1834, alongside Adam Mickiewicz and Bohdan Zaleski, he founded the Slavic Society of Paris. He also wrote a Polish-French dictionary.
Then he became a dragoman, providing interpretation of languages for the representatives of France to the Levantine échelles, and was attached to the mission of Persia.
He contributed to the revision of the second translation of the Quran into French based on the 1783 works of Claude-Étienne Savary. He eventually created his own translation drawing on the earlier works of the Italian cleric Louis Maracci and the English George Sale and later published for the first time in 1840.
Albert Kazimirski de Biberstein is buried at Montrouge Cemetery.

Works