Anquetil-Duperron

(a ˙ nk-tēl-du ˙ -pā-ron ˙ ), Abraham Hyacinthe, a French orientalist, born 1731, died 1805. He studied theology for some time, but soon devoted himself to the study of Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian. His zeal for the Oriental languages induced him to set out for India, where he prevailed on some of the Parsee priests to instruct him in the Zend and Pehlevi and to give him some of the Zoroastrian books. In 1762 he returned to France with a valuable collection of MSS. In 1771 he published his Zend-Avesta , a translation of the Vendidad , and other sacred books, which aroused much interest. Among his other works are L'Inde en rapport avec l'Europe (1790), and a selection from the Vedas . His knowledge of the Oriental languages was by no means exact.