Dominique Vivant De Non

Place: Chalon-Sur-Saône

Born: 1747

Death: 1825

Biography:

Dominique Vivant Denon, also known as Dominique Vivant de Non, was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. He was born in Chalon-sur-Saône, France in 1747 and died in Paris in 1825. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte ('Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt'), 1802, was foundational for modern Egyptology. He is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the modern museum and in the Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center.