c love parts for
more than thirty years, dying on the 15th of May 1698. La Fontaine
dedicated to her his novel _Belphegor_, and Boileau immortalized her in
verse. Her husband distinguished himself both as actor and playwright,
and his _Parisien_ (1682) gave Mme Guerin one of her greatest successes.

Her brother, the actor NICOLAS DESMARES (c. 1650-1714), began as a
member of a subsidized company at Copenhagen, but by her influence he
came to Paris and was received in 1685 _sans debut_--the first time such
an honour had been accorded--at the Comedie Francaise, where he became
famous for peasant parts. His daughter, to whom Christian V. and his
queen stood sponsors, CHRISTINE ANTOINETTE CHARLOTTE DESMARES
(1682-1753), was a fine actress in both tragedy and soubrette parts. She
made her debut at the Comedie Francaise in 1699, in La Grange Chancel's
_Oreste et Pylade_, and was at once received as _societaire_. She
retired in 1721.

CHAMPOLLION, JEAN FRANCOIS (1790-1832), French Egyptologist, called LE
JEUNE to distinguish him from Champollion-Figeac (q.v.), his elder
brother, was born at Figeac, in the department of Lot, on the 23rd of
December 1790. He was educated by his brother, and was then appointed
government pupil at the Lyceum, which had recently been founded. His
first work (1804) was an attempt to show by means of their names that
the giants of the Bible and of Greek mythology were personifications of
natural phenomena. At the age of sixteen (1807) he read before the
academy of Grenoble a paper in which he maintained that the Coptic was
the ancient language of Egypt. He soon after removed to Paris, where he
enjoyed the friendship of Langles, De Sacy and Millin. In 1809 he was
made professor of history in the Lyceum of Grenoble, and there published
his earlier works. Champollion's first decipherment of hieroglyphics
dates from 1821. In 1824 he was sent by Charles X. to visit the
collections of Egyptian antiquities in the museums of Turin, Leghorn,
Rome and Naples; and on his return he was appointed director of the
Egyptian museum at the Louvre. In 1828 he was commissioned to undertake
the conduct of a scientific expedition to Egypt in company with
Rosellini, who had received a similar appointment from Leopold II.,
grand duke of Tuscany. He remained there about a year. In March 1831 he
received the chair of Egyptian antiquities, which had been created
specially for him, in the College de France. He was engage