Jean-Jacques Ampère (12 August 1800 – 27 March 1864) 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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and man of letters. Born in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, he was the only son of the physicist

André-Marie Ampère André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as ''electrodynamics''. He is also the inventor of ...

(1775–1836). Jean-Jacques' mother died while he was an infant. (But André-Marie Ampère had a daughter – Albine (1807–1842) – with his second wife.) On his tomb at the cemetery of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

, Paris, he is named Jean-Jacques Antoine Ampère. His father's father was also named Jean-Jacques Ampère (executed in Lyon, 1793). He studied the

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s and popular poetry of the Scandinavian countries in an extended tour in northern Europe. Returning to France in 1830, he delivered a series of lectures on Scandinavian and early German poetry at the Athenaeum in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. The first of these was printed as ''De l'Histoire de la poésie'' (1830), and was practically the first introduction of the French public to the Scandinavian and German epics. Moving to Paris, he taught at the Sorbonne, and became professor of the history of French literature at the Collège de France. A journey in northern Africa (1841) was followed by a tour in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and Italy, in company with Prosper Mérimée, Jean de Witte and Charles Lenormant. This bore fruit in his ''Voyage dantesque'' (printed in his ''Grèce, Rome et Dante'', 1848), which did much to popularize the study of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

in France. In 1848 he became a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and in 1851 he visited America. From this time he was occupied with his chief work, ''L'Histoire romaine à Rome'' (4 vols., 1861–1864), until his death at Pau. The ''Correspondence et souvenirs'' (2 vols.) of A-M and J-J Ampère (1805–1854) was published in 1875. Notices of J-J Ampère are to be found in Sainte-Beuve's ''Portraits littéraires,'' vol. iv., and ''Nouveaux Lundis,'' vol. xiii.; in P Mérimée's ''Portraits historiques et littéraires'' (2nd ed., 1875); and in

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

's ''Recollections'' (1893). The Ampère Museum, close to Lyon, France, includes some documents presenting the life and works of Jean-Jacques Ampère.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ampere, Jean Jacques 1800 births 1864 deaths Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Writers from Lyon French philologists French scholars of Roman history French librarians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Académie Française Academic staff of the Collège de France Academic staff of the University of Paris