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 tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

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 ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

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 ''trans ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

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

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

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'' 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 (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

, 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 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure ...

(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 treati ...

(1788–1832), Langlès was a pupil and protégé of

Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...

(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 (; ), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europ ...

(

INALCO Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (; ), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europ ...

). 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 an 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 philologist Will ...

in the third volume of the ''Magasin Encyclopédique''. The 1811 edition of Jean Chardin'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) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 . 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 institute manages approximately ...

, Chevalier. *

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

(Academy of Humanities) *

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. *

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

, United Kingdom. *

* Order of St. Vladimir, 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 publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

. * 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 French Indologists French Sanskrit scholars Historians of India