Louis-Mathieu Langlès (23 August 1763 – 28 January 1824) was a French

academic 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, ...

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 ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and orientalist. He was the conservator of the oriental manuscripts at the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

in Napoleonic FranceTathagatananda, Swami
"How Vedanta Came to the West,"
''Saveda.'' August 15, 2005. and he held the same position at the renamed ''

Bibliothèque du Roi A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

'' after the fall of the empire.

Early life

Langlès was born in 1763 in Pérennes, a section of the commune of Welles-Pérennes in the department of the Oise. His youthful efforts to obtain a military position were unsuccessful. Instead, he went to Paris where he enrolled 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 ...

, studying Arabic and Persian.

Scholarly career

Along with Antoine Léonard de Chézy (1773–1832),

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 ...

(1790–1832) and

Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (5 September 1788 – 2 June 1832) was a French sinologist best known as the first Chair of Sinology at the Collège de France. Rémusat studied medicine as a young man, but his discovery of a Chinese herbal treatise ...

(1788–1832), Langlès was a pupil and protégé of Silvestre de Sacy (1758–1838). Langlès's close links with the Collège de France were enhanced by Baron de Sacy's support, which also resulted in Chézy becoming the Collège's first Professor of Sanskrit, Rémusat becoming its first Professor of Chinese, and Champollion becoming its first Professor of Egyptology.Karttunen, Klaus
''Expansion of Oriental Studies in the Early 19th Century.''
''Melammu Symposia 4'' (eds., A. Panaino and A. Piras). October 13–17, 2001. The faculty encompassed Langlès as the college's Professor of Persian.Redding
p. 789.
/ref> In 1785, he was attached to the Tribunal of the Marshals of France, which was at that time charged with suppressing duels. In 1795, Langlès became the founder-director the ''Ecole des langues orientales vivantes'' in Paris, which is still operating under the revised name of

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

(

INALCO Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

). Langlès was the provisional specialist on India at the Bibliothèque Nationale. France became a center for Indian studies when the accumulated Indian manuscripts languishing in the Bibliothèque Nationale began to be inventoried. Langlès corresponded with William Jones in Calcutta; and he was responsible for including the history and bibliography of the early publications of the

Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the ...

in the third volume of the ''Magasin Encyclopédique''. The 1811 edition of

Jean Chardin Jean Chardin (16 November 1643 – 5 January 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book ''The Travels of Sir John Chardin'' is regarded as one of the finest ...

's ''Voyages de monsieur le chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient'' (''The Travels of Sir John Chardin in Persia and the Orient''), was edited by Langlès. This is still today considered the standard version of Chardin's work. In 1819, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. He died in

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. Si ...

at the age of 81. His remains are interred in Père-Lachaise cemetery.Redding
p. 283.
/ref>

Honors and awards

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institut ...

, Chevalier. *

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 ...

(Academy of Humanities) *

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 ...

. *

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, United Kingdom. *

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

, Russia.

Selected works

* 1787 – ''Political and Military Institutions of Tamerlane.''Redding
p. 285.
/ref> * 1788 – ''History of the Mahrattas.'' * 1790 – ''Alphabet Tartare Manchou.'' * 1790 – ''Tartare Manchou Française.''

Notes

References

* Garcin de Tassy, Joseph-Héliodore-Sagesse-Vertu. (1997)
''Muslim Festivals in India and Other Essays''
(ed., Mohammad Tariq Waseem). Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. * Langlès, Louis J.-S. Merlin, F. Merlin, Louis Édouard Gauttier du Lys d'Arc. (1825
''Catalogue des livres, imprimés et manuscrits, composant la bibliothèque de feu M. Louis-Mathieu Langlès: ... dont la vente se fera ... 24 mars 1825 et jours suivants.''
Paris: J. S. Merlin. * Redding, Cyrus. (1867)
''Personal Reminiscences of Eminent Men.''
London: Saunders, Otley. * Raymond Schwab, Raymond. (1984)
''The Oriental Renaissance: Europe's Discovery of India and the East, 1836-1886.''
New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

. * Tourneux, Maurice. (1890)
''Bibliographie de l'histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution française.''
Paris: Imprimerie nouvelle
OCLC 2077368
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langles, Louis-Mathieu 1763 births 1824 deaths French librarians French orientalists French Iranologists French translators Translators from Persian Linguists from France Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Recipients of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery