Philippe Édouard Foucaux

Who was Philippe Édouard Foucaux?

Philippe Édouard Foucaux was a French tibetologist. He published the first Tibetan grammar in French and occupied the first chair of Tibetan studies in Europe.

He was born in the town of Angers on 15 September to merchant family. At age 27 he left for Paris to study Indology with Eugène Burnouf. After becoming aware of the work of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, he studied Tibetan by himself for two years. After this he was appointed as a Tibetan teacher at the École des langues orientales where he gave his inaugural lecture 31 January 1842. Funding for the position was canceled but Foucaux continued to instruct his students thereafter on a pro bono basis.

Foucaux was a member of the Sociéte d'Ethnographie. After France became the Second Empire, Foucaux was elected as a member of the Collège de France. Foucaux was married to Mary Summer, born Marie Filon, who also did work as a buddhologist. He was a corresponding member of the American Oriental Society from 1865.