Robert Edmond Gauthiot (13 June 1876, Paris – 11 September 1916, Paris) was a French Orientalist, linguist and explorer. Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, he became, in 1909, a member of the

Société Asiatique The Société Asiatique (Asiatic Society) is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging ...

and met

Paul Pelliot Paul Eugène Pelliot (28 May 187826 October 1945) was a French Sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and his discovery of many important Chinese texts such as the Dunhuang manuscripts. Early life and career ...

. Together, they translated the Sogdian manuscript Vessantara Jataka, found by Pelliot among the

Dunhuang manuscripts Dunhuang manuscripts refer to a wide variety of religious and secular documents (mostly manuscripts, but also including some woodblock-printed texts) in Chinese and other languages that were discovered at the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China, duri ...

in Mogao Cave 17. Gauthiot interrupted his exploration of the Pamir Mountains in July 1914 to return home to serve as a captain in the infantry during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Gauthiot received the Croix de Guerre before he was wounded at the

Second Battle of Artois The Second Battle of Artois (french: Deuxième bataille de l'Artois, german: Lorettoschlacht) from 9 May to 18 June 1915, took place on the Western Front during the First World War. A German-held salient from Reims to Amiens had been formed in ...

in spring 1915. He died from injuries at

Val de Grâce Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

Hospital.

References

* Gorshenina, Svetlana, ''La Route de Samarcande'', éditions Oziane, 2000, p. 196. *Pouillon, Robert, ''Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française'', Karthala, 2008, article « Robert Gauthiot ». {{DEFAULTSORT:Gauthiot, Robert Writers from Paris 1876 births 1916 deaths Linguists from France French explorers Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) French orientalists French Army officers Members of the Société Asiatique Iranologists Translators from Finnish Translators from Sanskrit 19th-century translators French military personnel killed in World War I