[Oliver Charles Camille Emmanuel, Vicomte]. French orientalist, born in Paris on the 11th of April 1811. He devoted himself to Oriental studies, particularly to Hebrew, Arabic, and Coptic, and finally to Egyptology exclusively. In 1849 he became keeper of Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre, and was the first to attempt the translation of long Egyptian texts from papyrus. He became member of the French Institute in 1853 and professor of Egyptology in the Collège de France in 1860. He is credited with the discovery of the Egyptian doctrine of immortality. One of his published works traces our modern alphabet through the Greek and Phœnician back to an Egyptian source. Among his historical works is Recherches sur les Monuments qu’on peut attribuer aux Six Premières Dynasties de Manéthon (1866); and upon Egyptian religion and mythology: Explication d’une Inscription Égyptienne, prouvant que les Anciens Égyptiens ont Connu la Génération du Fils du Dieu (1851). He died in Bois Dauphin on the 31st of December 1872.
