We all learn in school that Champollion discovered the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and was able to translate the Rosetta stone. But do we know exactly under what circumstances? And who was his dear brother, Jacques-Joseph? What was the relationship of the genius of Egyptology with Grenoble? Besides, you really know where is it is born ?
France Bleu took advantage of this bicentennial and its celebration by the Municipal Library of Grenoble around an exhibition entitled “The Champollion method”, to reveal some secrets you may not know about Jean-François Champollion.
1 – No, Jean-François Champollion is not from Grenoble
It may seem obvious to some, but a small survey on the streets of Grenoble confirmed it: many Grenoble residents are convinced that Jean-François Champollion was from here. Well no! He was born in Figeac, in the Lot, in Occitania, on 23 December 1790. The youngest of a family of seven children, a dissipated student, Jean-François Champollion arrived in Grenoble only in 1801, called by his brother and godfather, Jacques-Joseph, who was he will take care of his education and accompany him throughout his life.
If it’s not from there, the city of Grenoble will have an important place throughout the life of Champollion. At the beginning of the 19th century the city was an intellectual center, with a cultured society, a library (of which he would be an assistant), its museum and its botanical garden! Champollion, in particular, will be appointed professor of Ancient History at the brand new Faculty of Arts of Grenoble in 1809. In 1818 he will marry Rosine Blanc, daughter of a glover … from Grenoble. Also, his paternal ancestors are Dauphinois, “originally from Valbonnais. His great-grandfather, Claude, was born in Valjouffrey, in the hamlet of Faures and his father in La Roche”we learn in the exhibition “The Champollion method”, currently presented at the Municipal Library of Grenoble*.
2 – Champollion had a brother, who was also passionate about Egyptology
Jacques-Joseph, known as Champollion Le Vieux, is the eldest of the Champollion brothers. Twelve years older than Jean-François, she took him to Grenoble, took care of his education and sent him to school, at the age of eleven, to a private school, then to the central school (the current Lycée Stendhal). Curious, passionate and particularly inclined to languages, Champollion Le Jeune learned French, Latin and Greek. Widely encouraged by his older brother, who was also fond of what was then called “orientalism”, Champollion developed such a passion for oriental languages that at the age of thirteen he obtained “the exceptional authorization to also learn Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac and Chaldean”. This passion will never leave either of them.
“I was in turn his father, his teacher, his pupil” – Jacques-Joseph, the eldest of the Champollions
In addition to tirelessly encouraging him, this older brother, Jacques-Joseph, will watch over his younger brother throughout his life, even hiring him when he can (such as at the Grenoble library), or helping him find a paid job when they move to Paris. “I was in turn his father, his teacher, his pupil” he says of Jean-Francois.
The two men are linked by bonds of deep affection, as evidenced by their rich correspondence. It was for the first time at the home of this beloved older brother that Jean-François appeared, on September 14, 1822, shouting “I have my business!” after finally deciphering the famous Rosetta stone.
On the premature death of Jean-François – at the age of 42 – Jacques-Joseph will once again defend his brother’s work. He publishes his unpublished manuscripts, defends his findings and becomes his biographer.
3 – Champollion was … a librarian
Jean-François was not only a teacher or curator, he was also assistant librarian of the municipal library of Grenoble. As often, he gets this position thanks to his brother, a titular librarian. This posts it “it allows him to continue his research thanks to the numerous works preserved. The two brothers enrich the library collections by going in particular to recover more than sixteen hundred manuscripts and printed matter at the monastery of the Grande Certosa, the last set of revolutionary confiscations” explains the exhibition again “The Champollion method”.
– Municipal Library of Studies and Heritage of Grenoble.
4 – He made only one trip to Egypt
It’s only been six years after after deciphering the hieroglyphs, Jean-François Champollion finally realizes his dream: to explore the land of the pharaohs to verify his fabulous discovery. At the end of his life he set foot on Egyptian soil in 1828, at the end of his life. [il meurt en 1832 NDLR]. At the head of an expedition co-financed by the Tuscan and French governments, he traveled the country from Alexandria to Abu Simbel for more than a year. There he discovered ancient temples and tombs and collected an impressive number of hieroglyphs and bas-reliefs, still precious today for the understanding of ancient Egypt. “Some frescoes, studied by the designers of the time, have since lost their colors or have been destroyed”.*
“I am everything for Egypt, I am everything for me” – Champollion
5 – Saghir, the general, the decipherer, the Egyptian …
Jean-François Champollion will be decorated with unusual nicknames throughout his life. He is called “Cadet” or “Champollion Le Jeune” to differentiate him from his older brother, Jacques-Joseph, then, from high school, he signs his own letters “Saghir”, which in Arabic means “The Young Man”. Passionate about ancient languages and above all Coptic, the ancient Egyptian language that will be decisive in his understanding of hieroglyphs, he speaks in Coptic for‘”amuse” he writes, “I translate everything that comes to mind into Coptic”.*
Considered the father of Egyptology, Jean-François Champollion said of himself: “I am all for Egypt, she is all for me”, hence his Egyptian nickname. When he finally leaves for Egypt, his uncompromising team management still earns him the nickname of “General”.
6 – Champollion has never worked directly on the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 by a French soldier, Pierre-François-Xavier Bouchard, during Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign. Immediately the copies are made with a kind of lithography process and the stone is modeled. It is on these documents that Jean-François Champollion worked tirelessly for seventeen years, in fierce competition with many other European scholars. He will never see the Rosetta stone in real life. Bonaparte’s army in fact capitulated to the British in 1801. If French scholars were then allowed to take their documents, but the ancient monuments remained the property of the British and the Rosetta stone became one of the jewels of the British Museum, where Champollion did not he never went.
7 – The actual date of the deciphering of the hieroglyphs?
“I have my business!” It was on September 14, 1822 that Jean-François Champollion uttered this cry of triumph and found the key to deciphering the hieroglyphs, but this discovery required so much energy that “falls into hibernation” several days. His brother helps him write his letter to the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres. This communication, presented on September 27 of the same year, in Paris, (but backdated to September 22) makes him, officially, the real “hieroglyphics decipherer”. He was then 32 years old.
*In this article the texts in italics, when they are not explicitly attached to another source, are taken from the exhibition “La Méthode Champollion”, presented until 1 October at the Study and Heritage Library of Grenoble.
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