The Champollion Museum (french: Musée Champollion) is located in

Figeac Figeac (; oc, Fijac) is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. Figeac is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Figeac is on the via Podiensis, a major hiking medieval pilgrimage trail which is part of the Way of S ...

, Lot. It houses a collection devoted to Figeac's most famous son,

Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 17904 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in t ...

. It was inaugurated 19 December 1986 in the presence of President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, ...

and Jean Leclant, secrétaire perpétuel of 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 ...

. After two years of building work and extension, the museum re-opened in 2007. Besides Champollion's life and discoveries, the museum also recounts the history of writing. The whole façade is covered in

pictogram A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

s, from the original

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarit ...

s of the whole world.

History

In 1986, thanks to the efforts of the city of

, the first museum dedicated to Jean-François Champollion, known for deciphering

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...

, was opened. In 2014, the museum consecrated an exhibition to the explorations of Théodore Ber, also a native of Figeac, ''40 ans dans les andes: L'itinéraire oublié de Théodore Ber (1820–1900)'', and published an illustrated catalog. The museum was then installed in the house where the Egyptologist was born, which was thus saved from destruction and restored. This house has been listed as a historical monument since 1973. In 1991, the city celebrated the bicentenary of the birth of Figeac de Champollion by creating the Place des Scriptures, located just behind the museum. In August 1999, the city began a program to renovate and extend the museum. Work began on October 3, 2005. More than four million euros were financed by Europe (29.84%), the State (22.34%), the region (25%), the department (2 .43%) and the town of Figeac (20.39%). The architect Alain Moatti was responsible for the design of the project. The new Champollion museum, renamed Les Ecritures du Monde, opened its doors on July 28, 2007. Its facade with 1,000 letters, made of stone, glass and metal, allows access to the museum via Place Champollion. The graphic designer Pierre di Sciullo has drawn hieroglyphs and other writing signs from around the world on large openwork copper sheets. The museum's collections recount the fabulous adventure of writing, which appeared in different parts of the world 5,300 years ago for the oldest. From Mexico to China via Mesopotamia, objects inscribed with a brush, reed pen or pen tell how man invented, adapted or made his writing travel. The museum extends over four levels and eight rooms, it is fully accessible to the disabled, with the exception of the loggias which, at each level, allow a closer observation of the facade with a thousand letters and offer a beautiful point of view. on the town and Place Champollion, restored in 2008. In addition to the permanent collection accessible all year round which brings together more than 600 objects or documents, the museum regularly offers meetings for all audiences (readings, conferences, concerts, screenings, etc.) and temporary exhibitions which allow you to explore the one of the civilizations covered in the permanent collections.

Bibliography

* Van Uffelen, Chris. ''Contemporary Museums – Architecture, History, Collections'', Braun Publishing, 2010, , pages 190–193.

References

External links

Archaeological museums in France Museums in Lot (department) Museums established in 1986 1986 establishments in France Maisons des Illustres {{Lot-geo-stub