CHAMPOLLION, JEAN FRANcOIS French Egyptologist, called LE JEUNE to distinguish him from Champollion-Figeac (q.v.), his elder brother, was born at Figeac, in the department of Lot, on Dec. 23, 1790. At the age of 16 he read before the academy of Grenoble a paper in which he main tained that the Coptic was the ancient language of Egypt. He soon after removed to Paris. In 1809 he was made professor of history in the Lyceum of Grenoble. His first decipherment of hieroglyphics dates from 1821. In 1824 he was sent by Charles X. to visit the Egyptian antiquities in the museums of Italy; and on his return was appointed director of the Egyptian museum at the Louvre. In 1828 he was commissioned to conduct a scientific expe dition to Egypt in company with Rosellini. In March 1831 he received the chair of Egyptian antiquities, which had been created specially for him, in the College de France. He was engaged with Rosellini in publishing the results of their Egyptian researches when he died at Paris (1832). Champollion is now universally acknowledged to have been the founder of Egyptology.
He wrote L'Egypte, sous les Pharaons (2 vols. 8vo. 1814) ; Sur l'ecriture hieratique (1821) ; Sur l'ecriture demotique; Précis du sys teme hieroglyphique, etc. (1824) ; Pantheon egyptien, 00 collection des personnages mythologiques de l'ancienne Egypte (incomplete) ; Mona mens de l'Egypte et de la Nubie consideres par rapport a l'histoire, la religion, etc.; Grammaire egyptienne (1836), and Dictionnaire egyptienne (1841), edited by his brother; Analyse methodique du texte demotique de Rosette; Apercu des resultats historiques de la decou verte de l'alphabet hieroglyphique (1827) ; Memoires sur les signes employes par les Egyptiens dans leurs trois systemes graphiques a la notation des principales divisions du temps; Lettres ecrites d'Egypte et de Nubie (1833) ; and also several letters on Egyptian subjects, addressed at different periods to the duc de Blacas and others.
See H. Hartleben, Champollion, sein Leben and sein Werk (2 vols., Iqo6) ; Lettres de Champollion le Jeune (1909) ; also EGYPT, Language and Writing (ad init.).