François Lenormant

Born in Paris on January 17, 1837, François Lenormant grew up in a deeply scholarly world: his father, Charles Lenormant, was an archaeologist, numismatist, and Egyptologist. François showed unusual talent very young, publishing archaeological work as a teenager, and went on to become known as a Hellenist, Assyriologist, archaeologist, and numismatist.

Lenormant became especially notable for his work on ancient Near Eastern texts. Encyclopaedia Britannica credits him with recognizing, from cuneiform inscriptions, a language now known as Akkadian, an important step in understanding Mesopotamian civilization. He also taught and lectured on Greek and Eastern antiquities, and helped found the Gazette archéologique in 1875.

He died in Paris on December 9, 1883. Though his life was relatively short, his range was remarkable: he wrote on ancient history, religion, languages, and archaeology, and his books still reflect the excitement of nineteenth-century discovery.