(Rodez (Francia) 1817-Algiers (Algeria) 1869)
Son of Denis Combarel, a lawyer and man of letters from Aveyron, Combarel trains in history painting at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and also takes courses at the School of Oriental Languages. In 1850, he is appointed holder of the public chair of Arabic in Oran and then, in 1869, in Algiers.