Description
Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (1788-1832) was a French Sinologist who held the first chair in this discipline at the Collège de France. The translator of Iu-kiao-li, the unnamed Chinese novel in Goethe’s famous conversation with Eckermann about world literature, Rémusat played a central role in transmitting knowledge about Buddhism, the Chinese language and medicine in nineteenth-century Europe. Between 1821 and 1831, he corresponded with Wilhelm von Humboldt about Chinese grammar. His influence on French Sinologists was immense during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His students included, among others, Fulgence Fresnel and Stanislas Julien. In addition to Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, Stendhal, and Poe admired his translation of the Chinese novel. The information is available here. (David D. Kim, April 5, 2015)