Jean-Louis Burnouf (; 14 September 1775, in

Urville, Manche Urville () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.¨ See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, departmen ...

– 8 May 1844) 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 ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. The son of a poor weaver who died early in Burnouf's life, leaving him an orphan, he was admitted to the

collège d'Harcourt In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

and in 1792 won its Université prix d'honneur. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, he made his living as a merchant. Entering the Université in 1808, he was the professor of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

at the

lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuit ...

, and professor of Latin eloquence 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 ne ...

, from 1817 to 1844, then inspector of the Université. He was elected a member 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 ( epig ...

in 1836. Jean Louis Burnouf wrote several translations of Latin authors :

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

. He also translated into Latin Antoine-Léonard Chézy's French version of the ''Yadjanadatta Badha'' (''Sanskrit: Yadjnadatta Vadha, Killing of Yadjnadatta''). Burnouf was an early student of Sanskrit, which he studied under

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

. His son was

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 ...

, and his great-nephew was

Émile-Louis Burnouf Émile-Louis Burnouf (; 26 August 1821, in Valognes – January 1907, in Paris) was a leading nineteenth-century Orientalist and racialist author of Aryanism. He was a professor at the ''faculté des lettres'' at Nancy University, then prin ...

, both scholars of Indian civilizations. He died aged 68.

Publications

* ''Méthode pour étudier la langue grecque'' (1813–1814) * ''Premiers principes de la grammaire grecque'' * ''Méthode pour étudier la langue latine'' (1840–1841) * ''Souvenirs de jeunesse, 1792-1796'' (1888)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnouf, Jean-Louis 1775 births 1844 deaths French philologists French translators French orientalists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres People from Manche Academic staff of the Collège de France French classical scholars French male non-fiction writers