Eugine Burnouf, a French scholar, is one of the first scientists and researchers who did an in-depth study of Yasna (a part of Avesta) and did an everlasting work on this subject; his death means the loss of a very rare linguist. Burnouf was born in Paris in 1801. His father was known to be a professor in the French language, and he tried to make his son – Eugène – interested in this scientific field as well. But Eugène Burnouf was interested in studying law, got a university degree, and presented an outstanding thesis. However, he did not work as a lawyer and studied linguistics as his father wished.
Burnouf’s research in languages was about the Sanskrit and Pali, among the most ancient languages of the Indian continent. Some ancient Buddhist texts were written in this language. Burnouf’s research and studies about these two languages continued until he saw a manuscript of Avesta in the National Library of Paris. To find out about it, he started his extensive and persistent research about the Avesta language. He continued until the end of his life. Burnouf’s scientific result of those research was a commentary on Avesta’s Yesna, which was published in Paris in 1835. This commentary not only helped scientists understand the Avesta language but also helped Burnouf to unlock the secret of the ancient Iranian cuneiform script and, to a large extent, to find the ability to read this old script. In this regard, in 1836, he published a booklet about the cuneiform petroglyphs of Akbatan. He found that instead of the letter “R,” you should put the letter “B” to make it possible to read the cuneiform text. In this way, he could read the cuneiform writings correctly and find out the names of all the states of Darius the Great’s empire.
Burnouf’s commentary on Yasna includes many annotations to familiarize the readers with the depth and content of this part of the Avesta. He translated the Gathas into French from a Sanskrit text. He published the first Hat of Yasna with many notes in 1883 and the ninth Hat in 1840-1846. This is how scientific Avestaology was introduced in Europe. Along with this research and scientific search, Burnouf was interested in learning more about Sanskrit and Pali and wrote books about them. That is why the Collège de France recognized him as a member of its institute. Bourneuf was also a member of the French Asiatic Society. He was known throughout the world of linguistics for his outstanding scientific works. Thus, he became a scientific associate of the scientific societies of London, Calcutta, Bombay, Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of Munich. This Avestan scientist passed away in 1852 after only 51 years of a fruitful life.
