Vivant Denon

Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (French pronunciation: [dɔminik vivɑ̃ baʁɔ̃ dənɔ̃]; 4 January 1747 – 27 April 1825) was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was appointed as the first director of the Louvre museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, and is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the Louvre museum and in the Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte ("Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt"), 1802, was foundational for modern Egyptology.