Félix Nève


Félix-Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Nève was an Orientalist and philologist.
His parents were devout Catholics. Having graduated with distinction from the Catholic college of Lille, Nève completed a course of academic studies at the Catholic University of Leuven, obtaining in 1838 the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Letters. His taste for classical and oriental languages led him to pursue higher studies under some renowned scholars, Professors Lassen of Bonn, Tiersch of Munich, and Burnouf of Paris. He became acquainted with many oriental scholars, some of them already famous, others destined like himself to win fame in after years. Among these were Muir, Wilson, A. Weber, Kuhn, Max Muller, and the orientalist and catholic priest, Dr. Windischmann.
In 1841 Nève was appointed to the chair of Greek and Latin Literature in the University of Leuven, and while teaching the classics, gave a course of studies in the Sanskrit language and literature. This work he kept up for thirty-six years, at the same time making known the results of his studies in books and in the articles contributed to the Journal Asiatique, Annales de Philosophie Chrétienne, Correspondent, and other periodicals. In 1877 he was given the title of professor emeritus, and for the next fifteen years a series of publications came from his pen. He was a member of the Asiatic Society of Paris, the Asiatic Society of London, the Royal Academy of Belgium, and was a Knight of the Order of Leopold.

Works

Sanskrit

It was Nève who gave the first impetus to the cultivation of Sanskrit studies in Belgium. The most important of his numerous publications in the field are:
Nève also studied the Armenian language and literature. A number of translations and studies based on Armenian texts came from his pen. Among these may be mentioned:
His publications bearing on philology include his account of the learned men who in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries worked to build the University of Leuven, La renaissance des lettres et l' essor de l'érudition ancienne en Belgique.