Joseph Yacoub (born 1944 in Hassaké or Al-Hasakah, Syria) is a historian and political scientist of Assyrian origin.

His family moved from Salmas-Urmia, district in Iranian Azerbaijan and took refuge in Georgia (country of Caucasus area) during the First World War.

Following French secondary schools in Lebanon and after completing his course of learning at Lyon's University (France), where he achieved two Doctorates in the field of contemporary history (the second on Assyro-Chaldean Question[1] between the two World wars: 1908-1938[2]), he has been teaching Political Science and International Relations at Catholic University of Lyon, from July 1975 to October 2011, mainly at the Institute of Human Rights, who is one of the founders.

He was granted rewards, amongst them the Cross of the Assyrian Church of the East by the late Mar Denkha IV.

Specialist on ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic minorities, Indigenous peoples, Human Rights and Christians of Middle East,[4] he is translated into several languages.