Josette Elayi (née Escaich) was born on 29 March 1943 in Les Bordes-sur-Lez, a small former commune now merged into Bordes-Uchentein in the Couserans (part of the Ariège department) in France's Pyrenees mountains.

She has developed a multidisciplinary historiography method that combines epigraphy, numismatics, archaeology, economics and sociology; she applied this methodology in her works on the history of the Phoenicians.

Elayi also launched and directs a specialized international journal the Transeuphratène, and wrote a number of historical monographs about Phoenicia and the Ancient Near East.

[3][17] Elayi had a contentious relationship with the CNRS, criticizing what she perceived as corporatism, ambiguity, and bias in its evaluation processes for French research.

She advocated for reforms, addressing these issues in media outlets and through two books where she proposed a more equitable distribution of resources based on evaluations of researchers' competencies.

[7] Elayi is a vocal defender of the teaching of classical languages, which was threatened by curriculum reforms spearheaded by then-Minister of National education and research Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.

Elayi criticized the lack of a timetable, a program, funding or continuity and expressed indignation that teaching of classical languages would be left to non-specialized teachers and to the discretion of headmasters.

[22] In 1995 the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres awarded Elayi with the Gregor Mendel prize for her work on coin economy and circulation in Phoenicia and the Ancient Near-East in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.

[nb 2][23] Six years later, the academy awarded Elayi and Hussein Sayegh with the Adolphe Noël des Vergers prize for their research on the Phoenician port quarter of Beirut.

[25] In 2007 Elayi was decorated Knight of the Legion of Honor by then Minister of superior education François Goulard for her work on Phoenician history.