Félix-Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Nève (born

Ath Ath (; nl, Aat, ; pcd, Ât; wa, Ate) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Arbre, Ath, Bouvignies, Ghislenghien, Gibecq, Houtaing, ...

, Belgium, 13 June 1816; died

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. Th ...

, 23 May 1893) was an

Orientalist Orientalist may refer to: *A scholar of Oriental studies *A person or thing relating to the Western intellectual or artistic paradigm known as Orientalism *''The Orientalist'', a biography of author Lev Nussimbaum by Tom Reiss {{disambiguation ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

.Bruce Mansfield Man on His Own: Interpretations of Erasmus, C1750-1920, Volume 2 Lamy ''Félix-Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Nève'' His parents were devout Catholics. Having graduated with distinction from the Catholic college of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

, Nève completed a course of academic studies at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of L ...

(French: ''Louvain''), obtaining in 1838 the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Letters. His taste for classical and oriental languages led him to pursue higher studies under some renowned scholars, Professors Lassen of Bonn, Tiersch of Munich, and Burnouf of Paris. He became acquainted with many oriental scholars, some of them already famous, others destined like himself to win fame in after years. Among these were Muir, Wilson, A. Weber, Kuhn,

Max Muller Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, and the orientalist and catholic priest, Dr. Windischmann. In 1841 Nève was appointed to the chair of Greek and Latin Literature in the University of Leuven, and while teaching the classics, gave a course of studies in the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

language and literature. This work he kept up for thirty-six years, at the same time making known the results of his studies in books and in the articles contributed to the ''Journal Asiatique'', ''

Annales de Philosophie Chrétienne Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles conta ...

'', ''Correspondent'', and other periodicals. In 1877 he was given the title of

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

, and for the next fifteen years a series of publications came from his pen. He was a member of the Asiatic Society of Paris, the

Asiatic Society of London Asiatic refers to something related to Asia. Asiatic may also refer to: * Asiatic style, a term in ancient stylistic criticism associated with Greek writers of Asia Minor * In the context of Ancient Egypt, beyond the borders of Egypt and the cont ...

, the Royal Academy of Belgium, and was a Knight of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Works

Sanskrit

It was Nève who gave the first impetus to the cultivation of

studies in Belgium. The most important of his numerous publications in the field are: *his translation of selected hymns from the

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...

, ''Études sur les hymnes du Rig-Veda, avec un choix d' hymnes traduits pour le premier fois en français'' (Louvain, 1842) *his study of the ancient

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

cult of the Ribhanas, ''Essai sur le mythe des Ribhanas . . . avec le texte Sanskrit et la traduction française des hymnes addressés a ces divinités'' (Paris, 1847) *his translation of

Bhavabhuti Bhavabhūti (Devanagari: भवभूति) was an 8th-century scholar of India noted for his plays and poetry, written in Sanskrit. His plays are considered the equal of the works of Kalidasa. Bhavabhuti was born in Padmapura, Vidarbha, in Gon ...

's drama based on the story of the epic hero

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

, ''Le dénouement de l'histoire de Rama. Uttara-Rama-Charita, drame de Bhavabhouti, traduit du Sanskrit'' (Brussels, 1880) *his collection of essays on the

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, ...

philosophy and the epic and dramatic poetry of India, published under the title ''Epoques littéraires de l'Inde'' (Brussels, 1883).

Armenian

Nève also studied the

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...

and literature. A number of translations and studies based on Armenian texts came from his pen. Among these may be mentioned: *the Armenian story of the

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

invasion, ''Exposé des guerres de Tamerlan et de Schah-Rokh dans l'Asie occidentale, d' après le chronique arménienne inédite de Thomas de Medzoph'', published in ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale de Belgique'' (1861) *the Armenian account of the exploits of

Godfrey de Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of prince ...

, ''Les chefs belges de la première croisade d'après les historiens arméniens'' (Brussels, 1859) *the collection of studies on early Christian Armenian prayers and hymns entitled ''L'Arménie chrétienne et sa littérature'' (Louvain, 1886). His publications bearing on philology include his account of the learned men who in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries worked to build the University of Leuven, ''La renaissance des lettres et l' essor de l'érudition ancienne en Belgique''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neve, Felix Belgian Indologists 1816 births 1893 deaths Belgian philologists People from Ath