Champollion was amazingly talented from a very young age and apparently had little tact (though also little guile--sounds like he and I would have been friends), so he made enemies quickly. Thomas Young, his main rival in the race to decipher hieroglyphs, deduced 4 hieroglyphs first, and was always angered that Champollion actually came up with a valid system and beat him to the fame and glory that was deciphering hieroglyphs. And so, in large part, Champollion was denied the glory that he deserved because people went about bad-mouthing him and claiming that Young was the REAL hero.
Anyways, over time people gradually decided that Champollion's system actually worked, so they stopped giving him such a hard time. There were only a few hold-outs, including Young, and some of Champollion's jealous cohorts.
Champollion went to Egypt from 1828 - 1830, six years after unlocking the secrets of the hieroglyphs. This is what the book says about his "triumphant" return, followed by the quote from Champollion:
"[Champollion's] reluctance to return to Paris was compounded by hearing that opposition to him had increased during his visit to Egypt, and he was even being accused of falsifying evidence to fit his system of decipherment. Writing to Rosellini [one of Champollion's supporters], Champollion declared that his first concern would be to finish his hieroglyphic grammar, which 'will appear at the end of this year: it is the indispensable preface to our voyage. It will not convert, however, those who fight my system and deprecate my work, because these gentlemen do not wish to be converted and are uniquely dishonest...I spit on them.' "
Rock on, Champollion.
Champollion died 2 years later. His hieroglypic grammar came out several years after his death, published by his loyal older brother. Champollion's life would not have been possible without his brother's support. It's a good story.
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