René Dussaud

René Dussaud (December 24, 1868 – March 17, 1958) was a French Orientalist, archaeologist, and epigrapher. Among his major works are studies on the religion of the Hittites, the Hurrians, the Phoenicians and the Syriacs. He became curator of the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities at the Louvre Museum and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. One notable student was pioneering Jewish archaeologist Judith Marquet-Krause.

Dussaud is known for his support for the theory of the origin of the Semitic alphabet and for him being the leader of the French excavations in the Middle East and one of the founders of the archaeology journal Syria. He has been described as "a director of archaeological awareness".

Glozel controversy
In the late 1920s and at the time René Dussaud was curator at the Louvre, the Glozel affair was a subject of heated controversy. Claude and Émile Fradin who made the discovery of an underground chamber in March 1924 were accused by Dussaud in December 1927 of forgery, after reports suggested that the site with the exception of some pieces was fake. The Fradins filed lawsuit for defamation against Dussaud in January 1928, and Dussaud was convicted of defamation in a trial in 1932.