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Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse
Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse
	Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse around 1872
Born	14 July 1817; Châlons-en-Champagne, France
Died	17 April 1898; Marengo (Present-day Hadjout), Algeria
Nationality	French
Education	Civil engineering
Alma mater	École Polytechnique
Occupation(s)	Civil and mining engineer, Indologist
Known for	Third translator of Tirukkural into French
Notable work	Tirukkural (1867); Kamasutra (1891); Prem Sagar (1893)
Father	Jean-Baptiste-Cyprien Lamairesse
Awards	Knight of the Legion of Honor

Pierre-Eugène Lamairesse (14 July 1817 – 17 April 1898) was a French civil and mining engineer. A former student of the École Polytechnique, he was in charge of dams and other irrigation projects in Pondicherry and Karaikal in India between 1860 and 1866. He is best known for his translation of the Tirukkural and other ancient Indian works into French.^[2]

Early life

Lamairesse was born on 14 July 1817 in Châlons-en-Champagne, France.^[1] He was the youngest son of Jean-Baptiste-Cyprien Lamairesse, a farmer and member of the Agricultural Society of Châlons. He graduated from the École Polytechnique.

Career

During his stay in India, Lamairesse supervised many irrigation projects in Pondicherry and Karaikal between 1860 and 1866. With the help of the government in Madras, he transported a large collection of statues from several abandoned temples of the Tamil land, which were presented at the World Fairs of 1867 and 1878 and later offered to the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology at Châlons-en-Champagne.

Literary works

A polyglot, he translated many South Indian works including the Tirukkural. His Kural translation was published in 1867.^[2] He also wrote on various subjects such as Japanese civilization, the Koran, the Buddha, and the hydrology of France, Algeria and India. Towards the end of his career, he moved to Algeria. His other translations include the Kamasutra (1891) and Prem Sagar (1893). He died on 17 April 1898 in Marengo (present-day Hadjout).

References

^ ^a ^b "Dossier: LH/1453/35". Archives Nationales. n.d. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b Sanjeevi, N. (1973). Bibliography on Tirukkural. In First All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers. Chennai: University of Madras. p. 146.