BURNOUF, EuGENE (1801-52). A French Orientalist, one of the most distinguished of modern times. He was born in Paris, August 12, 1801. and, after entering on the study of law, devoted himself to the Oriental languages. espe cially those of India and Persia. In conjunction with Professor Lassen of Bonn, he published, in 1826. Essai sur le Pali, which was followed, in 1827, by Observations grammatieales surquelques passages de l'essai sur lc Pali. His great aim, however, at this time, was to obtain a com plete knowledge of the remains of the language and religious literature of the Avesta (q.v.), which had been neglected since the time of Anquetil-Duperron, or, at least, not philolo gically and critically examined. Burnouf under-. took to decipher those curious MSS. which An quetil-Duperron had brought home with him, and which lay unregarded in the Bibliotheque Impriale. He commenced by causing the lendi dad-ade to be lithographed with great care and published from time to time in the Journal Asiatique. In 1832 he became a member of the Academy of Inscriptions, and in the same year succeeded Clizy as professor of Sanskrit in the College de France. In 1834 he published the first
volume of his 'onmentaires sur le Yriena, Pun des Uri-es liturgiques des Parses, a work which, for the first time, rendered possible a knowledge not only of the dogmas. but also of the language of Zoroaster. It is a masterpiece of conscientious industry and scholarly acumen for the time, but too comprehensive in its scope to allow the work ever to be completed. His studies in the Avestan language induced him to make an attempt to de cipher the cuneiform inscriptions of Persepolis, in his Memoirc sur deux inscriptions euneiformes (Paris, 1S:36). In 1840 he published the text along with a translation of the Bhayarat-Purana, a system of Indian mythology and tradition. As the fruit of his study of the Sanskrit books of the Buddhists. he published in 1845 the Intro duction d l'histoire du Bouddhisme indict:. (See This great work absorbed for six year the whole energies of Burnout, who was now the recognized successor of Sil•estre de Sacy. Ile died May 28, 1852.