Adolphe Regnier (born Jacques-Auguste-Adolphe Regnier) (7 July 1804,

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

- 20 October 1884, Fontainebleau) was a French

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Life and career

From 1823 he was a teacher at various institutes of higher education in France, including from 1838 as a professor of rhetoric at 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 n ...

and as teacher of German language and literature at the École normal supérieure in Paris (1841-43). In 1843 he was appointed preceptor to

Prince Philippe, Count of Paris Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. ...

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

, whom he also accompanied into exile after the February Revolution of 1848. Back in Paris in 1853, he was accepted into the

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

in 1855 and became the director of the "Collection des grands écrivains de la France" (being succeeded after his death in that position by

Gustave Lanson Gustave Lanson (5 August 1857 – 15 December 1934) was a French historian and literary critic. He taught at the Sorbonne and the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. A dominant figure in French literary criticism, he influenced several gene ...

). He was also proposed by the Institut de France as professor of Sanskrit at the Collège de France in 1862, which he did not accept. In 1873 he was appointed librarian of the

Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...

, where he died eleven years later. His son Adolphe Regnier (1834-1875) was also a librarian and scholar.

Bibliography

Regnier made a great contribution to the knowledge of the German language and literature in France through the ''Cours complet de langue allemande'' (with Lebas, 7 vols., 1830-33) and through his translations of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

's ''

Iphigenia In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; grc, Ἰφιγένεια, , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting ...

'' (1843) and all of Schiller's works (8 vols., 1860–62, with biography) into French.Works by Adolphe Regnier on Wikisource
/ref> He achieved particular fame through his
Étude sur l'idiome des Védas et les origines de la langue sanscrite
' (first printed in the ''

Journal asiatique The ''Journal asiatique'' (full earlier title ''Journal Asiatique ou Recueil de Mémoires, d'Extraits et de Notices relatifs à l'Histoire, à la Philosophie, aux Langues et à la Littérature des Peuples Orientaux'') is a biannual peer-reviewed ac ...

'', and then as a monograph, Paris, 1855) and an edition of the ''Prâtiçâkhya du Rig-veda'' (3 vols., Paris 1857-59, with a French translation, commentary and a
"Etude sur la grammaire védique"
. He also translated

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

’ ''

Hecuba Hecuba (; also Hecabe; grc, Ἑκάβη, Hekábē, ) was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War. Description Hecuba was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "da ...

'' (1838) into French and wrote the linguistic work
Traité de la formation et de la composition des mots dans la langue grecque
' (1855).

Honours

* 1841 : Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur * 1875 : Officier de la Légion d'honneur * 1877 : Prix Archon-Despérouses of the Académie française

References

External links

''Régnier, Jacques Auguste Adolphe''
in: ''Les professeurs des facultés des lettres et des sciences en France au XIXe siècle (1808-1880)'' (French) French philologists 1804 births 1884 deaths French librarians Writers from Mainz German–French translators Friedrich Schiller {{France-translator-stub

Life and career

Bibliography

Honours

References

Further reading

External links