Fulgence Fresnel was a pupil of Sylvestre de Sacy in Paris, and in 1826 he undertook studies of the language and history of the Arabs at Maronite College in Rome.
10 Facts About Fulgence Fresnel
1.
2.
Fulgence Fresnel was appointed French consular agent in Cairo in 1837, and then consul in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
3.
Fulgence Fresnel is credited as the first European to provide a translation of ancient Himyarite inscriptions.
4.
Fulgence Fresnel wrote the first description of the Shehri language.
5.
Fulgence Fresnel was a prominent member of the Societe Asiatique and considered one of France's leading Arabists of the period.
6.
Fulgence Fresnel was named chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1849.
7.
Oppert and Thomas had already left the expedition in 1854, while Fulgence Fresnel chose to remain in the Middle East.
8.
Fulgence Fresnel was born in Mathieu, Calvados in 1795 and was the youngest of four sons of an architect.
9.
Fulgence Fresnel married in 1849 to a Galla woman he had bought out of slavery during his time in Egypt.
10.
Fulgence Fresnel would remain in Geneva while he led the mission to Mesopotamia.