Royal Academy of Morocco

Royal Academy of Morocco
Name	Royal Academy of Morocco
Native name	Académie Royale du Maroc
Formation	1978
Headquarters	Rabat
Leader title	President
Leader name	King Mohammed VI

Royal Academy of Morocco The Royal Academy of Morocco was established to foster scholarly activity, preserve cultural heritage, and advise on scholarly matters within the Kingdom. It engages with a broad network of institutions, scholars, and cultural organizations to support research, language preservation, and intellectual exchange. The Academy interacts with national and international bodies to promote Moroccan literature, history, and scientific inquiry.

History

The Academy was created in a period shaped by post-independence state formation and intellectual renewal alongside institutions like Hassan II University, Mohammed V University, Al-Qarawiyyin University, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, and École Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs. Its founding drew on precedents such as the Académie Française, Royal Society, Institut de France, Pan-African Congress, and influences from Arab League cultural initiatives. Early initiatives connected the Academy with projects led by figures linked to King Hassan II, Allal al-Fassi, Ahmed Balafrej, and administrative reforms influenced by treaties like the Treaty of Fez in historical context. The Academy’s development paralleled efforts at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and collaborations with the European Union's cultural programs, reflecting dialogues with bodies like the British Academy, Académie des sciences, and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Mission and Functions

The Academy’s mission encompasses preservation of Arabic language literature and Amazigh language heritage, advising on cultural policy with institutions such as Ministry of Culture (Morocco), supporting research tied to the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe, and promoting scholarship related to Moroccan heritage like Volubilis, Mogador (Essaouira), Marrakesh, Fez, and Rabat. It provides counsel analogous to roles played by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and engages in activities comparable to the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres and Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The Academy supports projects in areas linked to studies of Ibn Battuta, Averroes, Ibn Khaldun, Al-Bakri, Ibn Al-Jazzar, Leo Africanus, and the corpus of medieval Iberian scholarship including El Cid-era historiography.

Organization and Governance

Governance combines royal patronage linked to the Monarchy of Morocco and an elected council informed by scholars associated with institutions like Université Ibn Zohr, Université Cadi Ayyad, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Université Sultan Moulay Slimane, and Université Hassan I. Administrative structure echoes models from Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Belgique and the Royal Academy of Arts (UK), with committees that coordinate with the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation (Morocco), national archives such as the Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc, and conservation bodies managing sites like Kasbah of the Udayas and Hassan Tower. Leadership has included figures drawn from magistracy connected to the Supreme Council of the Judiciary (Morocco), cultural ministries, and academia with advisory links to the Chellah archaeological program and national museums including the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Membership and Notable Academicians

Members comprise Moroccan and international scholars, writers, and scientists comparable to academicians from Jean-Paul Sartre-era French intellectual circles, alongside specialists in Amazighology and historians of Al-Andalus. Notable academicians have backgrounds related to studies of Ibn Rushd, Maimonides, Saadi, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Fatema Mernissi, Abdelkébir Khatibi, Allal al-Fassi, Ahmed Boukous, Mohamed Chafik, Mohammed Arkoun, Tahar Haddad, Abdelilah Benkirane (as a public figure), and scholars connected to archaeological research at Tétouan and Chefchaouen. International corresponding members have included scholars associated with University of Oxford, Sorbonne University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Max Planck Society, CNRS, Smithsonian Institution, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

Activities and Publications

The Academy organizes symposiums and conferences akin to gatherings hosted by the World Congress of Historical Sciences, publishes proceedings and journals comparable to outputs from the Journal of North African Studies, and issues monographs on topics ranging from pre-Roman Mauretania, studies of Roman Morocco (Mauretania Tingitana), to analyses of French protectorate in Morocco archival material. Publications address literary criticism of authors such as Naguib Mahfouz-adjacent Arabic literature studies, examinations of Andalusian music traditions, and linguistic research in Tashelhit and Tamazight. The Academy curates exhibition catalogs for collaborations with museums like the Dar Si Said Museum and produces bibliographies used by researchers at Centre Jacques Berque and the Institut Français du Maroc.

Collaborations and International Relations

The Academy maintains bilateral and multilateral ties with bodies including the UNESCO, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Arab Academy of Damascus, Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Italian Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). It participates in cultural diplomacy alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Morocco), engages in joint projects with the African Union Commission and fosters links with regional centers such as the Mediterranean Universities Union and Union for the Mediterranean. Exchanges have involved collaborative fieldwork with teams from University of Seville, University of Granada, University of Bologna, University of Lisbon, and archival-sharing agreements with institutions like the Archivo General de Indias.

Category:Morocco