ANQUETIL-DUPERRON, ABRAHAM-HYACINTHE. — Orientalist, born in Paris on 7 Dec. 1731, died there on 17 Jan. 1805. Passionate about ancient Persia, he sought to learn its language and religion, aiming to achieve this by coming into contact with the modern followers of Zoroaster, the Parsis of India. He enlisted in an expeditionary force and landed at Pondicherry in 1755, and three years later, in 1758, succeeded in settling in Surat, where he made contact and established relations with the Parsis. A Parsi named Darab served as his teacher in the ancient religious language and acquainted him with ancient worship; he also facilitated Anquetil-Duperron’s research and acquisition of ancient manuscripts. Upon his return to Paris (1762), he brought back 180 manuscripts, including two of the Avesta. With the knowledge he had acquired in India—both of the language and religion, as well as the customs and traditions of the Parsi community—he set to work and in 1771 was able to publish his seminal work, a French translation of the Avesta with commentary. The novelty of the undertaking and the information it contained astonished the learned world, though it also aroused a certain distrust, not always justified. Nevertheless, it marked the beginning of Iranian studies and encouraged many to follow the path he had opened: *Zend Avesta, ouvrage de Zoroastre*, 3 vols., Paris 1771.
From 1763 he was a member of the *Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres*; however, in 1793 he was excluded due to his opposition to the Revolution. Reinstated in 1803, he declined the honor and renounced the pension that Napoleon had intended for him, just as he had earlier renounced that granted by Louis XVI.