Bernardino Drovetti
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Bernardino Drovetti | |
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| Born | January 7, 1776 Barbania |
| Died | March 5, 1852 (aged 76) Turin |
| Nationality | Italian-French |
| Occupation(s) | Antiquities collector, diplomat, politician |
Bernardino Michele Maria Drovetti (January 7, 1776 – March 5, 1852) was an
Turin Royal Canon and for his questionable behavior in collecting ancient Egyptian antiquities.[1]
Biography
Born in
Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur.[1]
During his stay in Egypt, Drovetti became a passionate and avid collector of Egyptian antiquities. He engaged several agents and was particularly active in
Turin Royal Canon, a papyrus bearing a list of several pharaohs which is datable to the reign of Ramesses II
and which was found by Drovetti at Luxor in 1820.
Later in his life, Drovetti lost his mind and was confined in a lunatic asylum at Turin. He died there on March 5, 1852.[1]
Legacy
While he contributed significantly to the creation of
Giovanni Battista Belzoni and Jean-François Champollion:[1] for example, during his excavations at Luxor around 1818 and later, Belzoni reported to have been harassed by two of Drovetti's agents, Antonio Lebolo and a certain Rosignani;[2] Drovetti also tried several times to hinder Champollion's expedition in Egypt (1827–28), likely to prevent a competitor in his affairs.[3] Drovetti and his agents were also deemed careless and unscrupulous in their conduct towards their discoveries, and it is believed that the fragmentary state of the Turin Royal Canon is at least partially due to this behaviour.[1]
In popular culture
Drovetti was portrayed by Joseph Long in the 2005 BBC docudrama Egypt.
See also
References
Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernardino Drovetti.
- Ridly, Ronald T. (1998). Napoleon's Proconsul In Egypt: The Life and Times of Bernardino Drovetti. Rubicon Press. ISBN 0-948695-59-5.
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