Anquetil Duperron, the famous French orientalist, is known as the founder and pioneer of Iranian and Avesta studies. Throughout his hardworking life, he tried to shed light on Avesta science; however, the high value of his work was never recognized during his lifetime!
Anquetil Duperron was born in France, in 1731. He studied in the University of Paris and soon he showed his passion for learning oriental languages and did not stop studying until the end of his life. Therefore, he took the first steps in the School of Oriental Languages and did not stop trying until the end of his life. That is why he took the first steps of learning in the school of Oriental languages and learned Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew.
In the royal library of France, he was in charge of taking care of old manuscripts brought to France from the East. Duperron began cataloging and sorting the manuscripts and put a lot of effort in this work. While doing this tedious job, he also examined manuscripts from close and studied them. During this search, he came across the “Zand” books and became so interested in reading them that he decided to go to the East. For this purpose, he went to India in 1755 AD and learned the Sanskrit language. It has been said that he had nothing with him on this trip except his clothes!
In India, he made friendship with many Parsees (Indian Zoroastrians). In the French port of Pondicherry, he gained much knowledge about the holy Zoroastrian texts and by studying them he increased his knowledge in this field. In Surat, the main settlement of Parsees of India, he persevered in growing his understanding of the Pahlavi language and the texts of Zand and Pazand. He met a scientist named Dastur Darab who taught him Pahlavi and Avesta languages. Duperron collected many manuscripts while studying these two languages. Among his other works was the transcription of those rare manuscripts. He later took those manuscripts, as well as Persian and Arabic manuscripts, with him to Paris. The number of books he brought with him to France was 1761 copies. He returned to Paris after 9 years of scientific research and traveling to many Indian provinces.
Even though Duperron presented the report of his scientific trip and his work to the French Academy of Sciences, he could not get their favorable opinion. Some of them were even hostile to Duperron and tried to bring down the value of his work. Even though Anquetil Duperron was offended by the attitude of the members of the academy, he did not stop his scientific efforts. After eight years of continuous effort, he published a translation of the Avesta in French in 1771. However, it took several years for the value of Duperron’s work to be recognized. His efforts made the name of Iran famous in European universities, and the importance of Iran’s ancient written heritage was recognized.
Anquetil Duperron died in 1805, in poverty and hardship. In the last days of his life, he said that even then, if he had to follow his true desire, he would go after new ways and make friendship with the Parsees of India. Although his knowledge of the Avesta language was not complete, and there were still many questions in his mind, for which he could not find answers, he was a pioneer who bore the difficulties of this path to smoothen it for future generations. The manuscripts that Duperron took to Europe became the basis for extensive research on Avesta and Zoroastrian religion. Therefore, his significant contribution should be acknowledged. It is rightly said about Duperron: “Iran and its lovers are indebted to Duperron, the founder and pioneer of Iranian studies.”
