Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (December 4, 1795 - May 14, 1867) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 orientalist

Oriental studies

Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...

.

Life

Joseph Toussaint Reinaud was born at Lambesc

Lambesc

Lambesc is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in southern France.Lambesc is located in the heart of Provence at the foot of the Côtes mountain range, near the Alpilles. The village has a strong historical and cultural heritage, being home to the...

, Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...

. He came to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1815, and became a pupil of Silvestre de Sacy

Silvestre de Sacy

Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy , was a French linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist.-Early life:...

. In 1818-19 he was at Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 as an attaché to the French minister, and studied under the Maronites of the Propaganda, but gave special attention to Muslim coins.

In 1824 he entered the department of oriental manuscripts in the Royal Library

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 at Paris, and in 1838, on the death of De Sacy, he succeeded to his chair in the School of Living Oriental Languages

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...

. In 1847 he became president of the Asiatic Society

Société Asiatique

The Société Asiatique is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging from the Maghreb to the Far East. The society publishes the Journal...

, and in 1858 conservator of oriental manuscripts in the Imperial Library.

His first important work was his classic description of the collections of the Duc de Blacas

Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas

Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, first comte, then duc, and finally prince de Blacas d'Aulps was a French antiquarian, nobleman and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration.-Youth:He was baptized at Avignon on 11 January 1771...

 (1828). To history he contributed an essay on the Arab invasions of France, Savoy

Savoy

Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

, Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 (1836), and various collections for the period of the crusades

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

; he edited (1840) and in part translated (1848) the geography of Abulfeda.

To him too is due a useful edition of the very curious records of early Arab intercourse with China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 of which Eusèbe Renaudot

Eusèbe Renaudot

Eusèbe Renaudot was a French theologian and Orientalist.-Life:Born in Paris, he was brought up and educated for a career in the church; but after being educated by the Jesuits, and joining the Oratorians in 1666, he was in poor health, left his order, and never took more than minor orders...

had given but an imperfect translation (Relation des voyages, etc., 1845), and various other essays illustrating the ancient and medieval geography of the East.