Jean Baptiste LeChevalier (July 1, 1752, in
Trelly, Manche department to July 2, 1836, in Paris,
Saint-Étienne-du-Mont) was a French scholar, astronomer and archaeologist.
LeChevalier studied in Paris and taught from 1772 to 1778 at several colleges. He was appointed by the
French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
France had a permanent embassy to the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1535, during the time of King Francis I and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It is considered to have been the direct predecessor of the modern-day embassy to the Republic of Tu ...
Choiseul-Gouffier to undertake archaeological research in the region. He visited Italy and the north-west coast of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, where he devoted his studies particularly to the identification of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
.
After the outbreak of the
French revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
he returned to France. In 1790 he travelled to London, toured Europe in the following years and returned only in 1795 to France.
Since 1806 he was employed as the first curator of the
Sainte-Geneviève Library
Sainte-Geneviève Library (french: link=no, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève) is a public and university library located at 10, place du Panthéon, across the square from the Panthéon, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It is based on the ...
in Paris.
Publications
* ''Voyage de la Troade, ou table de la plaine de Troie dans son état actuel'' (London 1794)
** ''Reise nach Troas oder Gemählde der Ebene von Troja in ihrem gegenwärtigen Zustande'', Altenburg, 1800
* ''Voyage de la Propontide et du Pont-Euxin'' (London 1800, 2 Bde.)
** ''Reise durch den Propontis und Pontus-Euxinus''. Liegnitz und Leipzig: Siegert, 1801.
Links
works by Jean Baptiste LeChevalier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechevalier, Jean Baptiste
1752 births
1836 deaths
18th-century French archaeologists