Adrien Prévost de Longpérier

Henry Adrien Prévost de Longpérier (21 September 1816, Paris – 14 January 1882) was a 19th-century French numismatist, archaeologist and curator.

Sculptures of Khorsabad in their current presentation

Biography

Adrien was the son of Henry Simon Prevost Longpérier, a commander of the National Guard who was later mayor of Meaux from 1840 to 1848.[1][2]

In 1836, he entered the cabinet des médailles of the Bibliothèque royale (futur Bibliothèque nationale). Protected by Raoul-Rochette, he obtained the position of first employee in 1842.[3] In 1840 he published a fundamental study of numismatics of Sassanid sovereigns, and devoted several years later to numismatics of the Arsacids. With baron Jean de Witte, he founded the Bulletin archéologique de l’Athenaeum français. In 1856, after the departure of Louis de La Saussaye, Adrien de Longpérier took over the direction of the Revue numismatique with Jean de Witte .

From 1847 to 1870 he was curator of the antiquities department of the Louvre. In 1848 he was the only curator of the Louvre not to be dismissed when the regime changed.[4] As curator of antiquities he was responsible for collections from cultural areas and of varied ages. As such, he welcomed in the Louvre the first Assyrian sculptures arrived in France since Khorsabad, and took a close interest in deciphering the cuneiform script. He was also responsible for receiving the Campana collection. His numerous scientific interests include civilizations of America and national antiquities: Longpérier was behind the creation of a Mexican museum (1850) and a member of the commission for the establishment of the National Archaeological Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

In 1854 he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. He was editor of the Revue numismatique from 1856 to 1872.[5] From 1858 he was a member of the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques.

References
  1. T. Sarmant, Le cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque nationale 1661-1848, Droz, 1994, (p. 286)
  2. When elected he sold his mansion to the sub-prefecture. fr.topic-topos.com Archived 2012-07-08 at Archive.today
  3. T. Sarmant, 1994, (p. 286)
  4. T. Sarmant, 1994, (p. 279)
  5. Jean Lafaurie, « La Revue numismatique a 150 ans », Revue numismatique, 1986, (p. 24–25) persee.fr

Works
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