Théodule Devéria

Théodule Charles Devéria (1 July 1831 in Paris – 25 January 1871 in Paris) was a prominent French Egyptologist who lived in the 19th century. He was the son of the painter Achille Devéria.

Background and contribution to Egyptology

Deveria studied the collection of Egyptian papyri at the Louvre for many years, and was considered in his day an expert on Ancient Egyptian funerary texts.

Of him, the renowned Sir E. A. Wallis Budge noted: "No other scholar had such a wide and competent knowledge of the Book of the Dead", and that his death was a "great loss" to Egyptology.

Criticism of the Book of Abraham facsimiles

Among his contributions was the first critical assessment of the interpretation made by Joseph Smith of Egyptian vignettes that appear in the Mormon scripture the Book of Abraham. His comments appeared in several publications, including the book The Rocky Mountain Saints: A Full and Complete History of the Mormons.