Philippe Édouard Foucaux

Philippe Édouard Foucaux (1811-1894) was a French Tibetologist. He published the first Tibetan grammar in French. He was born in the town of Angers on September 15th to merchant family. At age 27 he left for Paris to study Indology with Eugene Burnouf. After becoming aware of the work of Csoma de Koros, he studied Tibetan by himself for two years. After this he was appointed as a Tibetan teacher at the Ecole des Langues Orientales. Funding for the position was canceled but Foucaux continued to instruct his students thereafter on a pro bono basis.

Foucaux was a member of the Societe d'Ethnographie. After France became the second empire, Foucaux was elected as a member of the College de France. Foucaux was married to Mary Summer, born Marie Filon, who also did work as a buddhologist. He was a corresponding member of the American Oriental Society form 1865.

Works

*1858 "Grammaire de la langue tibétaine." Paris: L'imprimerie impériale.

Works about Foucaux

*Le Calloc'h, Bernard. "Philippe-Edouard Foucaux: First Tibetan teacher in Europe." "Tibet Journal" 12.1 (1987): 39-49.
*Le Calloc'h, Bernard. "Un Angévin oublié, Philippe-Edouard Foucaux,le premier tibétologue français."