Johan David Akerblad, a Swedish philologist, especially skilled in oriental languages, born in 1700, died in Rome in 1819. When a young man he was made an attache of the Swedish embassy to Constantinople, where he found an excellent opportunity for the study of Turkish. In 1795 he was made secretary of the embassy, but in 1797 devoted himself to study for a time, and for this visited Gottingen in 1800. In 1802 he was appointed secretary of the embassy at the Hague, and in 1803 charge d'affaires at Paris. While in Paris he found some Cop-tic MSS. in the nationallibrary, and discovered the key to the unknown character in which they were written. In 1804 he left the Swedish service and went to Pome, where the duchess of Devonshire and others gave him the means of pursuing his studies during the remainder of his life. His works relate chiefly to oriental inscriptions.