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(b. Paris, 1880; d. Paris, 1955), French archeologist and architect. VIOLLET, HENRY (b. Paris, 1880; d. Paris, 1955), French archeologist and architect. His father, Paul-Marie Viollet (1840-1914), was an archivist in the French National Archives and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, who played an important role in his son’s career. Henry Viollet was a student at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1901 to 1911. During this period, his first contact with the Orient took place when he tra…

In June 1806 Jaubert was received in audience by the shah in Tehran and presented a letter from Napoleon. Negotiations were carried out, and the court offered him a large portrait of the shah. A version of this article is available in print Volume XIV, Fascicle 6, pp. 593-594 JAUBERT, PIERRE AMÉDÉE ÉMILIEN-PROBE (b. Aix-en-Provence, 3 June 1779; d. Paris, 28 January 1847; FIGURE 1), French orientalist who also served as interpreter and diplomat at Napoleon Bonaparte’s court. He studied Turkish, Arabic, and Persian languages for two years (1796-98…

During his five year residence in Persia, Jéquier sent home to his family many letters and accounts of his daily life in Persia and these were compiled and published posthumously as a volume entitled En Perse 1897-1902 by his son Michel Jéquier.A version of this article is available in printVolume XIV, Fascicle 6, pp. 629-630JÉQUIER, GUSTAVE, Swiss archeologist (b. Neuchâtel, 14 August 1868; died there, 24th March 1946; Figure 1). After completing his secondary education at Neuchâtel and attending its university, and after his military service, he …

(1858-1940), Father, French philologist and archeologist. SCHEIL, Father Jean-Vincent (b. Kɶnigsmacker [d�partement of Moselle], 10 June 1858; d. Paris, 21 September 1940), French philologist and archeologist. After his studies at the college of Sierck (Moselle), he entered the Dominican order in 1881 and took the name of Father Vincent. His ecclesiastical studies and his novitiate lasted six years, first in Spain, and then in Austria. During these years, he also wrote his thesis of doctorate in philosophy and theology, which was published in 1889 in Mainz as De origine gothica Gu…

In 1833 Schefer entered the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand, where one of his classmates was Charles Baudelaire (1821-67). Schefer enrolled in his school's Arabic, Turkish, and Persian courses for prospective translators (jeunes de langues). SCHEFER, CHARLES-HENRI-AUGUSTE (b. 16 November 1820, Paris; d. 3 March 1898, Paris), orientalist and academic administrator, as well as minister plenipotentiary and bibliophile. Schefer combined a brilliant career in the French Foreign Ministry ( Ministère des affaires étrangères) with a productive life in scholarship. He w…

(1862-ca. 1920), MIRZĀ ʿALI KHAN, royal librarian. His career at the royal court began in Tabriz in 1891. LESĀN-AL -DAWLA, MIRZĀ ʿALI KHAN (b. Tabriz, ca. 1862; d. Tehran, ca. 1920), royal librarian. His career at the royal court began in Tabriz in 1891 when his duties included that of librarian to Crown Prince Moẓaffar-al-Din Mirzā Qajar. In 1896, when Moẓaffar-al-Din succeeded Nāṣer-al-Din Shah, Mirzā ʿAli Khan accompanied the entourage of the new Shah to Tehran, having been granted the title of Lesān-al-Dawla. …

NICOLAS, ALPHONSE (or A.-L-.M. Nicolas, see below; b. Rasht, 27 March 1864, d. Paris, 28 February 1939, PLATE I), French diplomat and Orientalist.Alphonse Nicolas was born on 27 March 1864 in Rasht (q.v.), where his father Jean-Baptiste Nicolas had just been named vice-consul. During his childhood, besides the French spoken at home, he also learned Persian and Russian. In 1873, when Jean-Baptiste Nicolas was appointed to the position of 1st dragoman at the French Legation in Tehran, the Nicolas family left Rasht to g…

Relations with Iran. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 2, pp. 126-187 FRANCE i. Introduction Compared to the long-standing history of Persian civilization, France emerged as a powerful entity endowed with its own distinctive culture only in the 13th century C.E., i.e. the great century of Christianity. Strongly marked by French influence, this century also coincided with the Mongol invasions that brought havoc to the vast Persian cultural area, then encompassing large tracts of Arab,…