Institut d’Estudis Occitans | Institute for Occitan Studies

The Institute for Occitan Studies (Institut d’Estudis Occitans – IEO) is an association created in 1945, whose purpose is the maintenance and development of the Occitan language and culture as a whole. IEO is a so-called “loi 1901” association recognized as a “public utility” by the French State (1949) with an agreement for Youth and Popular Education (1986).

All IEO members are working for the recognition of the Occitan as a full European language. That is why IEO advocates a place for Occitan in public life, media and education.

The action of IEO is to work towards the recognition of the Occitan culture as a genuine modern culture, both creative and innovative and faithful to its history. IEO supports the efforts of all those who want the Occitan language to find its place in the cultural diversity inherent in today’s society.

IEO counts on 2,000 volunteers and forty employees in its various branches, distributed in 30 departmental and 7 regional federated sections. IEO supports the promotion and teaching of Occitan and recommends the use of the so-called “classical” or “standard” spelling, adapted to dialectal diversity and to the teaching of Occitan on its entire territory, including the Aran Valley (Val d’Aran, in Spain) and the Occitan valleys (Valadas occitanas) of Italy.