Eugene Jacquet (1811 - 1838)

Eugene Jacquet

Eugene Jacquet, full name Eugene Vincent Stanislas Jacquet, was a Belgian orientalist and linguist.

From a young age, Eugene Jacquet tried to learn as many Oriental languages as possible, including Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Turkish, as well as Malay and Indian. At first he was interested in sinology, but in the end he was mainly concerned with Indology. Eugène Jacquet was very talented and was also interested in epigraphy, numismatics and paleography.

Jacquet corresponded extensively with Orientalist scholars in Europe and India (e.g., Prinsep) and had grand plans for his future, but unfortunately he died at the age of only 27 from tuberculosis. Perhaps his most significant achievement was his participation in the decipherment of the ancient Persian cuneiform script.