Jean-Jacques Ampère (12 August 1800 – 27 March 1864) was a French

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 th ...

and man of letters. Born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, he was the only son of the physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836). Jean-Jacques' mother died while he was an infant. (But André-Marie Ampère had a daughter – Albine (1807–1842) – with his second wife.) On his tomb at the cemetery of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

, Paris, he is named Jean-Jacques Antoine Ampère. His father's father was also named Jean-Jacques Ampère (executed in Lyon, 1793). He studied the folk songs and popular poetry of the Scandinavian countries in an extended tour in northern Europe. Returning to France in 1830, he delivered a series of lectures on Scandinavian and early German poetry at the Athenaeum in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. The first of these was printed as ''De l'Histoire de la poésie'' (1830), and was practically the first introduction of the French public to the Scandinavian and German epics. Moving to Paris, he taught at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, and became professor of the history of French literature at the Collège de France. A journey in northern Africa (1841) was followed by a tour in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and Italy, in company with

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

Jean de Witte Baron Jean Joseph Antoine Marie de Witte (24 February 1808, Antwerp - 29 July 1889, Paris) was a Belgian archeologist, epigraphist and numismatist. He collaborated with François Lenormant in founding the Gazette archéologique at the Biblioth� ...

and Charles Lenormant. This bore fruit in his ''Voyage dantesque'' (printed in his ''Grèce, Rome et Dante'', 1848), which did much to popularize the study of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

in France. In 1848 he became a member of the Académie française, and in 1851 he visited America. From this time he was occupied with his chief work, ''L'Histoire romaine à Rome'' (4 vols., 1861–1864), until his death at Pau. The ''Correspondence et souvenirs'' (2 vols.) of A-M and J-J Ampère (1805–1854) was published in 1875. Notices of J-J Ampère are to be found in Sainte-Beuve's ''Portraits littéraires,'' vol. iv., and ''Nouveaux Lundis,'' vol. xiii.; in P Mérimée's ''Portraits historiques et littéraires'' (2nd ed., 1875); and in

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his wor ...

's ''Recollections'' (1893).

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ampere, Jean Jacques 1800 births 1864 deaths Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Writers from Lyon French philologists French scholars of Roman history French librarians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Académie Française Academic staff of the Collège de France Academic staff of the University of Paris