Joseph Octave Delepierre (12 March 1802 – 18 August 1879) was a Belgian lawyer, archivist, diplomat, writer and antiquary. He spent his later life in the United Kingdom, and is best known for his studies of

macaronic language Macaronic language is any expression using a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different langua ...

and literature. Delepierre after HW Diamond

Grave of Octave Delepierre in Highgate Cemetery

Life

He was born at

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in France (now in Belgium), 12 March 1802. His father was Joseph Delepierre, for many years receveur-général of the province of

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

; his mother was of the Penaranda family. Illiterate at age 12, he qualified for the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

. Having obtained the degree of doctor of laws, he became an

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