Jean-Louis Michon
| Jean-Louis Michon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 April 1924 Nancy, France |
| Died | 22 February 2013 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Other names | Ali Abd al-Khaliq |
| Academic background | |
| School or tradition | Traditionalism, Perennial Philosophy, Sufism |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | Esoterism, Sufism, Quran, Islamic culture and arts, Traditionalism, Perennial Philosophy |
| Notable works | Ibn Ajiba: Two Treatises on the Oneness of Existence (Archetype, 2010); The Moroccan Sufi Ibn 'Ajiba and His Mi'raj, (Fons Vitae, 1998) |
Jean-Louis Michon (April 13, 1924- February 22, 2013) was a French traditionalist scholar and translator who specialized in Islamic art and Sufism. He worked extensively with the United Nations to preserve the cultural heritage of Morocco.
Born in Nancy, France, in 1924, Michon was in college at the advent of WWII. There he began studying religion with a group of fellow students.
Already having two diplomas, (one in law, one in English literature), he moved to Paris and enrolled in a program for political science.
This something appeared in the guise of the works of French Traditionalist René Guénon. Greatly moved by Guénon’s writings, Michon felt the need to enter an initiatic tradition. Michon had a great personal affinity with Hinduism and Buddhism; particularly Zen Buddhism after reading the essays of D.T. Suzuki. He longed to travel to Japan to find a Zen master, but Japan was currently at war with his country.
After four months of training, and a few days before the date set for departure to Japan, the atomic bomb was dropped and Japan capitulated. He returned to school to take his final exams and it there in the school library that he read in La Revue Africaine an article on the late Sufi master Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi (who had died over a decade before). The article, entitled Mystic Modernist, mentioned that the late Sheikh had initiated several European disciples into the Sufi tradition. The next day Michon began attending prayers at the mosques, and, with the help of Michel Valsan, he converted to Islam (with the name Ali Abd al-Khaliq).
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