Antoine-Léonard de Chézy (15 January 177331 August 1832) was a French orientalist and one of the first European scholars of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Biography

He was born at

Neuilly Neuilly (, ) is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well ...

. His father,

Antoine de Chézy Antoine de Chézy (September 1, 1718 – October 5, 1798), also called Antoine Chézy, was a French physicist and hydraulics engineer who contributed greatly to the study of fluid mechanics and designed a canal for the Paris water supply. He i ...

(1718–1798), was an engineer who finally became director of the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. The son was intended for his father's profession; but in 1799 he obtained a post in the oriental manuscripts department of the

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, o ...

. In about 1803, he began studying

, and although he possessed no grammar or dictionary, he succeeded in acquiring sufficient knowledge of the language to be able to compose poetry in it. This cites the ''Mémoires'' of the Académie des Inscriptions (new series, vol. xii.), where there is a notice of Chézy by

Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...

. In Paris sometime between 1800 and 1805,

Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel (; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German poet, literary critic, philosopher, philologist, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figure ...

's wife

Dorothea Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...

introduced him to the Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, called Hermina or Hermine, who, extremely unusually for the time, was a very young divorcée who had come to Paris to be a correspondent for German newspapers. In 1805 they married and Helmina subsequently gave birth to two sons: the author Wilhelm Theodor von Chézy (1806–1865) and Max von Chézy (1808–1846), who became a painter. However, the marriage was ultimately not a success, and the couple parted, although did not divorce, in 1810. De Chézy continued to make annual payments for her support until his death. He was the first professor of Sanskrit appointed in the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

(1815), where his pupils included

Alexandre Langlois Alexandre Langlois (4 August 1788, in Paris – 11 August 1854, in Nogent-sur-Marne) was a French Indologist and translator. He taught classes at the Lycée Charlemagne, then worked as ''inspecteur'' at the Académie de Paris. He was a member of ...

Auguste-Louis-Armand Loiseleur-Deslongchamps Auguste-Louis-Armand-Loiseleur Deslongchamps (or ALA Loiseleur-Deslongchamps) (14 August 1805 – 10 January 1840) was a French indologist. He was the second son of the botanist, Jean-Louis-Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. He is known for his tra ...

and especially

Eugène Burnouf Eugène Burnouf (; April 8, 1801May 28, 1852) was a French scholar, an Indologist and orientalist. His notable works include a study of Sanskrit literature, translation of the Hindu text ''Bhagavata Purana'' and Buddhist text ''Lotus Sutra''. He ...

, who would become his successor at the Collège on his death in 1832. Hindu Myth, Hindu History, Religion, Art, and Politics
by

Heinrich von Stietencron Heinrich von Stietencron (18 June 1933 in Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland – 12 January 2018) was a German Indologist. He was a Professor and the Director of the Institute of Indology and Comparative Religion at the University of Tübingen. He ...

He was a chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, and a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. Among his works were: *''Medjnoun et Leïla'' (1807), from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. *''Yadjnadatta-badha ou la mort d'Yadjnadatta'' (1814). *''La Reconnaissance de Sacountala'' (1830), from the Sanskrit. *''Anthologie érotique d'Amarou'' (1831), published under the pseudonym A. L. Apudy.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chezy, Antoine Leonard de People from Neuilly-sur-Seine 1773 births 1832 deaths Deaths from cholera Linguists from France Academic staff of the Collège de France Translators from Persian French translators Translators from Sanskrit Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Société Asiatique

Biography

See also

References