Congratulations to Aditi Gupta, a fourth-year DPhil student in French, who has been awarded a prestigious residency grant at the Bibliothèque et Villa Marmottan (Académie des Beaux-Arts) in Paris. She will spend six months there, from January to June 2026, pursuing her research in Paris and benefiting from the exceptional resources of the host institution.
Aditi's research explores the diplomatic, military, and intellectual exchanges between France and India in the eighteenth century through the study of the collections of paintings and manuscripts assembled by Jean-Baptiste Gentil (1726–1799), an officer of the French East India Company. Her residency at the Bibliothèque Marmottan will focus on the posthumous publication, in 1822, of Gentil's Mémoires sur l’Indoustan, which contributed to the dissemination of the Frenchman's observations on India among European readers.
Aditi says: “I am delighted to have been awarded this residency at the Bibliothèque Marmottan. The opportunity to spend several months in Paris will be invaluable for my doctoral research, giving me access to primary sources at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), alongside other exceptional archival documents. I look forward to the stimulating scholarly environment that this residency will provide.”
https://www.academiedesbeauxarts.fr/bibliotheque-et-villa-marmottan-residents-2025-2026
