Masson, Olivier, 1922-1997

Olivier Masson (3 April 1922, Paris – 23 February 1997, Paris) was a French linguist interested in Greek, Cypriot and Phoenician epigraphy, especially with the Cypriot syllabary and Cypriot archaeology in general. He was professor of Greek philology at the École pratique des hautes études. He specialized in Greek inscriptions from Cyprus as well as in the study of the Cypro-Minoan script, compiling a corpus of inscriptions of the latter (now obsolete, but the more recent corpus of S. Ferrara is only partially realised). His wife was Emilia Masson (1940–2017), née Jovanovic, originally from Serbia. A Hittologist by education, she also made a significant contribution to the archaeology of the Balkans and Asia Minor of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, as well as in the studies of inscriptions from Cyprus and the Vinca culture. After her death, Olivier and Emilia's daughter Diana Masson donated her parents' library to the Center for Cypriot Studies.