Philippe Édouard Foucaux (15 September 1811 – 20 May 1894) was a French
tibetologist
Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...
. He published the first
Tibetan grammar in French and occupied the first chair of Tibetan Studies in Europe.
He was born in the town of
Angers
Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...
on 15 September to merchant family. At the age of 27, he left for Paris to study
Indology
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...
with
Eugène Burnouf. After becoming aware of the work of
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma
Sándor Csoma de Kőrös (; born Sándor Csoma; 27 March 1784/811 April 1842) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian philologist and Orientalist, author of the first Standard Tibetan, Tibetan–English language, English dictionary and grammar book. H ...
, he studied Tibetan by himself for two years. After this he was appointed as a Tibetan teacher at the
École des langues 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 ...
where he gave his inaugural lecture on 31 January 1842. Funding for the position was canceled but Foucaux continued to instruct his students thereafter on a pro bono basis. Some of his most well-known students include ,
William Woodville Rockhill
William Woodville Rockhill (April 1, 1854 – December 8, 1914) was a United States diplomat, best known as the author of the U.S.'s Open Door Policy for China, the first American to learn to speak Tibetan, and one of the West's leading exp ...
, and
Alexandra David-Néel
Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lha ...
.
Foucaux was a member of the Sociéte d'Ethnographie. After France became the
Second Empire, Foucaux was elected as a member of 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 ...
. Foucaux was married to
Mary Summer, born Marie Filon, who also did work as a
buddhologist. He was a corresponding member of the
American Oriental Society
The American Oriental Society is a learned society that encourages basic research in the languages and literatures of the Near East and Asia. It was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned ...
from 1865. A number of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese manuscripts and printed books from his library were acquired by the
National Library of France
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
and are preserved there.
Works
*184
''Discours prononcé à l'ouverture du cours de langue et de littérature tibétaine près la Bibliothèque royale''.Paris: Lacrampe.
*185
''Grammaire de la langue tibétaine''.Paris: L'imprimerie impériale.
*185
''Le trésor des belles paroles, choix de sentences composées en tibétain; suivies d'une élégie tirée du Kanjour''.Paris: B. Duprat.
*186
''Histoire du Bouddha Sakya Muni.''Paris: B. Duprat.
*1884-189
''Le Lalita Vistara'' In two parts. Paris: E. Leroux.
Works about Foucaux
*Le Calloc'h, Bernard. "Philippe-Edouard Foucaux: First Tibetan teacher in Europe." ''Tibet Journal'' 12.1 (1987): 39–49.
*Le Calloc'h, Bernard. ''Un Angevin oublié, Philippe-Edouard Foucaux,le premier tibétologue français.''
*Li, Charles
"Philippe-Édouard Foucaux in the margins."''Texts Surrounding Texts: Satellite Stanzas, Prefaces and Colophons in South-Indian Manuscripts.''
26 March 2021.
References
External links
Philippe-Édouard Foucaux
on ippolito-desideri.net (in Italian)
1811 births
1894 deaths
Tibetologists
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