French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

has the second maximum number of translations of the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...

among European languages, next only to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. As of 2015, there were at least 18 translations of the Kural text available in French.

History of translations

The first translation of the Kural text into French was made by an unknown author, which was titled ''Kural de Tiruvalluvar'' and found a place in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1767. However, it is

E. S. Ariel E. S. Ariel, also referred to as Monsieur Ariel ( French for "Mr. Ariel") by his contemporaries, was a 19th-century French translator known for his French translation of the ancient Indian philosophical text of the Tirukkural. He translated sel ...

who is generally credited with bringing the Kural text to the French world. Ariel, who considered the Kural as one of the highest and purest expressions of human thought, translated fragments of the first two divisions of the work, viz. ''

aram Aram may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama * Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri'' * Aram Quartet, an Italian music group * ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...

'' (virtue) and '' porul'' (wealth) in 1848. Since then several translations appeared in French, chief among which are those by

Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse (14 July 1817 – 17 April 1898) was a French civil and mining engineer. A former student of the École Polytechnique, he was in charge of dams and other irrigation projects in Pondicherry and Karaikal in India betwee ...

(1867), G. Fontaineu de Barrigue (1889), Dumast,

Louis Jacolliot Louis Jacolliot (31 October 1837 – 30 October 1890) was a French barrister, colonial judge, author and lecturer. Biography Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, he lived several years in Tahiti and India during the period 1865-1869. Jacolli ...

, and

Alain Daniélou Alain Daniélou (4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French historian, Indologist, intellectual, musicologist, translator, writer, and notable Western convert to and expert on the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. In 1991 he was awarded the Sa ...

(1942).

Gnanou Diagou Gnanou Diagou (1877–1959) was a lawyer and professor of law in Pondicherry, India. He is known for translating the Tirukkural into French. Biography Gnanou Diagou hailed from a Catholic family from Pondicherry. He obtained his law degree fr ...

translated the entire work in 1942, which was first published in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

. Few other translations were published in the 20th century, including M. Sangeelee (1988) and François Gros (1992). In 2007, Rama Valayden published a translation in

Port-Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's eco ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Translations

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017

Translations into French

History of translations

Translations

See also

References