Jean-François Champollion, the decipherer of hieroglyphics, was born in Figeac in 1790.
His father, Jacques Champollion, a peddler and bookseller from the Dauphiné, arrived in Figeac around 1770, where he opened a bookshop and married a local girl.
Jean-François Champollion was 10 years old when his older brother took him with him to Grenoble and took charge of his education. Fascinated by Antiquity, he passionately studied ancient languages and scripts.
From the age of 17, dividing his time between the Collège de France and the École des Langues Orientales, he worked on the Rosetta inscription, examining hundreds of documents. On September 14, 1822, after much research and much doubt, he was finally able to exclaim: "I've got it! He had just understood that hieroglyphic writing was a complex system, "a mixture of figurative, symbolic and phonetic signs".
Treated as a "charlatan" by some, Champollion was admired by others.
Wilhelm von Humboldt said: "It is admirable and one of the most curious discoveries made in his time"; the future king Louis-Philippe exclaimed: "(This) brilliant discovery (...) is honorable not only for the scientist who made it, but for the Nation".
The town of Figeac was keen to honor its most illustrious citizen by dedicating a museum to him.
Musée Champollion – Les Écritures du Monde
place Champollion
46100 Figeac
Tél. : 05 65 50 31 08
https://www.tourisme-lot.com/offres/musee-champollion-les-ecritures-du-monde-figeac-fr-659549/
