Philologist; born in the
Isle of Rhea;,
France, June 3, 1760; went to
Paris in 1775, where he became acquainted with
Baron Steuben, and accompanied him to
America as his secretary.
He was brevetted a captain (February, 1778), and assisted
Steuben in the preparation of his system of military tactics for the use of the United States troops.
From 1781 to 1783 he was secretary to
Robert R. Livingston, then at the
head of the foreign office of the government; and then studying law, was admitted to practice in 1785, becoming eminent in the profession on questions of civil American Indians.
In 1819 he published and international law. He finally devoted himself to literature and science, and made many valuable researches into the language and literature of the
North a
Memoir on the structure of the Indian Languages.
When seventy-eight years of age (1838) he published a
Dissertation on the Chinese language; also a translation of a
Description of New Sweden.
In 1835 the French Institute awarded him a prize for a disquisition on the
Indian languages of
North America.
Mr. Duponceau opened a law academy in
Philadelphia in 1821, of
Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours; and wrote several essays on the subject of law. He died in
Philadelphia, April 2, 1844.
