Désiré Charnay
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{{Infobox Scientist
|name = Désiré Charnay
|box_width =
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|caption = Désiré Charnay
|birth_date = [[2 May]] [[1828]]
|birth_place = [[Fleurie]]
|death_date = [[24 October]] [[1915]]
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|nationality = [[France|French]]
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|field = [[archaeology]]
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'''Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay''' ([[2 May]] [[1828]] - [[24 October]] [[1915]]) was a [[France|French]] traveller and [[archaeologist]] notable both for his explorations of [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]], and for the pioneering use of [[photography]] to document his discoveries.
[[Image:Yaxchilán lintel.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Lintel 24]], Structure 23, [[Yaxchilan]], as drawn by [[Désiré Charnay]]. The sculpture depicts a sacred [[bloodletting in Mesoamerica|bloodletting]] ritual which took place on [[28 October]], [[709]]. Yaxchilan ruler [[Shield Jaguar]] is shown holding a torch, while his wife [[Lady Xoc]] draws a rope through her pierced tongue. (109.7 x 77.3 cm)]]
He was born in [[Fleurie]], and studied at the [[Lycée Charlemagne]]. In [[1850]], he became a teacher in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], and there became acquainted with [[John Lloyd Stephens]]'s books of travel in [[Yucatan]]. He travelled in Mexico, under a commission from the French ministry of education, in [[1857]]-[[1861]]; in [[Madagascar]] in [[1863]]; in [[South America]], particularly [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]], in [[1875]]; and in [[Java (island)|Java]] and [[Australia]] in [[1878]]. In [[1880]]-[[1883]], he again visited the ruined cities of Mexico. [[Pierre Lorillard IV]] of [[New York City]] contributed to defray the expense of this expedition, and Charnay named a great ruined city near the [[Guatemala]]n boundary line "Ville Lorillard" in his honor; the name did not stick and the site is more commonly known as [[Yaxchilan]]. Charnay went to Yucatan in [[1886]].
The more important of his publications are ''Le Mexique, souvenirs et impressions de voyage'' ([[1863]]), being his personal report on the expedition of [[1857]]-[[1861]], of which the official report is to be found in [[Viollet-le-Duc]]'s ''Cités et ruines américaines: [[Mitla]], [[Palenque]], [[Izamal]], [[Chichen-Itza]], [[Uxmal]]'' (1863), vol. 19 of ''Recueil des voyages et des documents''; ''Les Anciennes villes du Nouveau Monde'' ([[1885]]; English translation, ''The Ancient Cities of the New World'', [[1887]], by Mmes. Gonino and Conant); a romance, ''Une Princesse indienne avant la conquête'' ([[1888]]); ''A travers les fonts vierges'' (1890); and ''Manuscrit Ramirez: Histoire de l'origine des Indiens qui habitent la Nouvelle Espagne selon leurs traditions'' ([[1903]]).
He translated [[Hernan Cortez]]'s letters into French, under the title ''Lettres de Fernand Cortès à Charles Quint sur la découverte et la conquête du Mexique'' ([[1896]]). He elaborated a theory of [[Toltec]] migrations and considered the prehistoric Mexican to be of [[Asia]]tic origin, because of supposed observed similarities to Japanese architecture, Chinese decoration, Malaysian language and Cambodian dress, and so forth.
==External links==
*{{gutenberg author| id=Désiré+Charnay | name=Désiré Charnay}}
*[http://gallica2.bnf.fr/Search?n=10&p=1&lang=en&adva=1&adv=1&reset=&ope1=MUST&catsel1=f_creator&cat1=D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9+Charnay&catpar1=tou&date=daEx&daFr=&toutesLangues=toutes&tousTypes=tous&toutTheme=Tous&allAccessType=Tous&allProvenances=Tous&sel_provenance=toutSNE&tri= Works available at Gallica], [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]
*[http://academic.reed.edu/uxmal/contents.html Photographs and prints of Uxmal and Kabah by Charnay] (Reed College, Portland, Oregon)
==References==
*{{1911}}
[[Category:French archaeologists|Charnay, Désiré]]
[[Category:French photographers|Charnay, Désiré]]
[[Category:1828 births|Charnay, Désiré]]
[[Category:1915 deaths|Charnay, Désiré]]
[[Category:Mayanists|Charnay, Claude-Joseph Désiré]]
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