Ernest Renan
Joseph Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations , philosopher, historian, and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity, and his political theories, especially concerning nationalism and national identity. Renan is credited as being among the first scholars to advance the Khazar theory, which held that Ashkenazi Jews were descendants of Turkic peoples who had adopted Jewish religion and migrated to Western Europe following the collapse of their khanate.
He was born at Trguier in Brittany to a family of fishermen. His grandfather, having made a small fortune with his fishingshack, bought a house at Trguier and settled there, and his father, captain of a small cutter and an ardent republican, married the daughter of a Royalist tradesman from the neighbouring town of Lannion. All his life, Renan was aware of the conflict between his fathers and his mothers political beliefs. He was five years old when his father died, and his sister, Henriette, twelve years his senior, became the moral head of the household. Having in vain attempted to keep a school for girls at Trguier, she departed and went to Paris as a teacher in a young ladies boardingschool.
Source: Wikipedia