Through his mother, Sophie Silvestre (1793-1877), he was Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy's grandson. He taught Turkish at the Collège de France, as extraordinary professor in 1854 and then as holder of an ordinary chair in 1861. In 1873, he succeeded Emmanuel de Rougé at the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres. He was also a member of the Société asiatique. He led Turcology to the study of Central Asian languages and was the author of a dictionary of Eastern Turkish and of several editions and translations of texts.
