J.-J. (Jean-Jacques) Barthélemy

Born in Cassis, France, in 1716, Jean-Jacques Barthélemy was a scholar of the ancient world whose interests ranged across archaeology, numismatics, languages, and literature. He worked at the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris, where his close study of inscriptions and coins helped build his reputation as a careful and original researcher.

He is often noted for early breakthroughs in deciphering the Palmyrene and Phoenician alphabets, an achievement that placed him among the pioneering scholars of ancient writing systems. Barthélemy was also elected to the Académie française, reflecting the high regard he earned in French intellectual life.

Many readers came to know him through Voyage du jeune Anacharsis en Grèce, published in 1788. Blending fiction, travel, and classical scholarship, the book invited readers into the world of ancient Greece and remained widely loved long after his death in Paris in 1795.