In 1809 Champollion-Figeac published a work on French dialects and popular idioms. His support of Napoleon during the Hundred Days (1815) lost him his position as professor of Greek and librarian at the University of Grenoble (1816). He subsequently became curator of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale and professor at the École des Chartes (school of paleography), Paris. In 1849 Champollion-Figeac became librarian of the palace at Fontainebleau.