Emanuel Forchhammer (12 March 1851 - April 26, 1890) was a Swiss indologist, pāli specialist, orientalist and the first professor of Pali in Rangoon College.
He rejected the offer of the Emperor of Brazil to survey Indian languages but he accepted the chair of Pāli at Rangoon College, becoming the country's first professor in Pali.
In 1882, he became an Archaeological Inspector for British Burma, engaging in excavations and the decipherment of ancient inscriptions in Pāli, Mon, and Burmese.
[3] Forchhammer studied the various languages of Burma and carried out, excavations and archaeological investigations, particularly in the ancient temple cities of Arakan and Pagan.
He published a systematic account of the ancient manuscripts collected by him in Burma (1882), Notes on the Early History and Geography of British Burma (1883–84), Sources and Development of Burmese Law (1885), a contribution to Jardine's Notes on Buddhist Law (1882–83), and treatises on the Burmese languages in the "Indian Antiquary".