Eugène Flandin

Flandin's observations on Iran and international politics in the mid-19th century also continue to provide important documentary information.

• Name — Eugène Flandin • Birth Name — Jean-Baptiste Eugène Napoléon Flandin • Born — 15 August 1809 • Birthplace — Naples, French Empire • Died — 29 September 1889 • Place of death — Tours, France

In 1839, Flandin was, along with Coste, made a laureate of the Institut de France, and they both joined the embassy of the Comte de Sercey to Iran (1839–41). After parting from de Sercey's mission, they left Isfahan (31 May 1841) with very limited financial means and retinue. They pursued their periplus towards Hamadān, Kangāvar, Bīsotūn, Ḥolwān, etc. They went back to Isfahan and then on to Shiraz and the Persian Gulf (Būšehr), returning to Tehran via Shiraz, Isfahan, and Kashan. They then traveled to Tabrīz, where disastrous sanitary conditions hampered their return through Trabzon or Tiflis so that they had to take the Tabrīz-Baghdad route through Kurdistan instead. Flandin's courage during this journey was praised by Coste, who also noted his intrepidity and his violent temper (Notes I, pp. 162 f., 367 f.). Their timetable and work were strictly organized. After Flandin's return to France, he was awarded the Légion d’honneur.

• Illustration — A 19th-century reconstruction of Persepolis, by Flandin and Pascal Coste In March 1843, after fruitless searching for the site of Nineveh, Paul-Émile Botta (1802–70) discovered the Assyrian capital of Dur Sharrukin on the site of modern Khorsabad. Botta mistook the place for the actual site of Nineveh (Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform had not yet been deciphered). In October, Flandin was appointed to Botta's mission by the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres to draw the excavated remains and inscriptions. He also participated in the excavations which ended in October 1844.