Jean Antoine Dubois

Jean Antoine Dubois, Abbé Dubois ' ( baptized January 10, 1766 in Saint- Remèze, Ardèche, † February 17, 1848 in Paris), French missionary and Indologist.

Life

Dubois went into the turmoil of the French Revolution in 1792 as a priest to South India, where he in 1794 after the defeat of Tippu Sultan oversaw the forced converts of this Christians on behalf of the new British masters. Due to the persecution of priests dodged to Mysore in French Pondicherry, he took in the years 1803 /04 with success smallpox vaccinations before, become involved in the construction of many churches and established an agricultural colony in attempt Sathally.

The good contact with the British - Dubois was one of the few who do speak English - gave him selling his book manuscript on " life and rites of the Indians " for a significant amount of money, and freed of the most pressing existential worries, Dubois dedicated community work, especially in Karnataka. However, his faithful Indian disapproved contact with the unclean as prestigious feringhis ( English ), which connected him until his return to France in mutual respect and recognition.

In parting, collects the English colony in Chennai ( Madras ) for a verfertigtes of Thomas Hickey image Dubois in his typical garb shows as Christian Sannyasin; it involves the last work of over eighty years of British painter.

Recalled in 1823 to the Missions Etrangeres in Paris, where he wrote a mission skeptical font that caused several rebuttals of Catholic and Protestant side, and is considered a classic of the mission criticism.

In his superiors Dubois was because of his missionary skepticism and pessimistic view of the world as " little steadfast ".

Published in 1825 the Abbé other religion research papers and in 1826 a translation of the Panchatantra in the South Indian version. In his last years, was Dubois Superior (leader) of the Missionary Etrangeres ( 1836-1839 ); He died in 1848 in Paris. He left his fortune to the mission and its French town of Saint -Remèze for school purposes. - A museum and several churches built by him remember to this day in India in these early pioneer of Indology.

Assessment

Dubois described in his main work, the Hindu life and manners, unlike previous authors ( Baldaeus, Rogerius ) caste, religion and living conditions in South India not only religious, but also among ethno - sociological aspects. The criss-crossed by many anecdotes and aphorisms main work, which goes back in the core on a manuscript of the Jesuit Father Gaston- Laurent Cœurdoux (1691-1779), allowed, despite many weaknesses of presentation and interpretation for the first time a vivid insight into customs and everyday life of the hitherto largely unknown subcontinent.

Dubois ' work counts for its comprehensive and detailed overview to date of the standard reading of the Indologists.