About André Lévy
Lived 1925 – 2017 (aged 91). André Lévy was a French linguist, translator, university teacher and sinologist.
André Lévy (; 24 November 1925 – 3 October 2017) was a French sinologist.
He was born in 1925 in Tianjin. He translated many Chinese works of fiction into French.
Biography Levy was born in Tianjin, China, in 1925, the son of a family of watchmakers and jewellers, and grew up in the French concession in Tianjin. He married Anne-Marie Lévy, the Norwegian writer. Levy studied French and Sinology, Hindi and Sanskrit at the Sorbonne, and published numerous translations from the Chinese, including La pérégrination vers l'Ouest (Xiyou ji - Journey to the West) and Fleur en fiole d'or (Jin Ping Mei). In 1958, he was in charge of the EFEO in Hanoi for a while, before its closure. In 1959 he went to Kyoto, where he availed himself of the rich collections of Chinese literature at the Japon Jimbun Kagaku Kenkyûsho library. He left Kyoto in 1966, and went to Hong Kong, still as an EFEO researcher. In 1974 he received his doctorate in stories and spoken language of the seventeenth century. In 1969 he was appointed Director of Chinese Studies at the University of Bordeaux. Between 1981 and 1984 he was Director of the East Asian department at Paris-VII University. In 1995 he became Emeritus Professor at l'université Bordeaux-III. He received the bronze medal of the CNRS, and was made Commandeur des Palmes académiques in 1988.
Publications Lévy, André. "Fleur sur l'océan des péchés". (book review of A Flower in a Sinful Sea, Archive). Études chinoises, No. 1, 1982. Fleur en fiole d'or, Jin Ping Mei Cihua. Translated and annotated by André Lévy. La Pléiade Gallimard 1985. Folio Gallimard 2004. 2 volumes . The first translation into a Western language to use the 1610 edition. Lévy, André. "La passion de traduire." (Archive) In: Alleton, Vivianne and Michael Lackner (editors). De l'un au multiple: traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes Translations from Chinese into European Languages. Éditions de la maison des sciences de l'homme (Les Editions de la MSH, FR), 1999, Paris. p. 161-172. , 9782735107681. - English abstract available
Obituaries Lévy died in Bordeaux with death published in the Le Monde, 4 October 2017
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Important facts
People in André Lévy's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who was André Lévy?
French sinologist (1925-2017)
When was André Lévy born?
André Lévy was born on 24 November 1925 in French concession in Tianjin, Tianjin.
When did André Lévy die?
André Lévy died on 3 October 2017 in Villenave-d'Ornon, Bordeaux.
What was André Lévy's occupation?
André Lévy was a linguist, translator, university teacher and sinologist.
What nationality was André Lévy?
André Lévy was French.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: André Lévy (sinologist)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). André Lévy. https://biography.guide/andre-levy/
MLA: "André Lévy." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/andre-levy/.
Chicago: "André Lévy." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/andre-levy/.
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