Youhanna Chiftichi
Youhanna Chiftichi was a Coptic priest and scholar in the 18th and 19th century, who taught Coptic to Jean-François Champollion, thus paving the way for the latter to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs. His name has been frequently misspelled as "Icaha Scheptichi" or "Jeacha Sceptidschy".
Life
Youhanna Chiftichi was born in Cairo in the late 18th century. He worked for the French army while in Egypt between 1799 and 1802. He moved to France in 1802 following Napoleon's failed conquest of Egypt. He first landed in Marseille then moved to Paris, and settled in Saint-Roch, where he was given permission to provide religious services to his Coptic countrymen who had also moved to France following Napoleon's conquest of Egypt. Chiftichi appears in some correspondences of the French government, who recruited him to assist with the encyclopedic Description de l'Egypte, due to his reputation as a scholar in Oriental languages.Influence on Champollion
While living in Saint-Roch, Chiftichi was visited by Jean-François Champollion. Chiftichi taught Cahmpollion the Coptic alphabet and Coptic language. Thanks to him, Champollion became fluent in Coptic. In one of his letters to his brothers, Champollion wrote about Chiftichi saying:In another letter to his brother, Champollion also wrote: