Étienne was born in Neuchâtel-Urtiére, France. His first studies were in law, and he received a degree from the University of Neuchâtel in 1951. Following this, he studied at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco) in Paris. As a student of Inalco he spent a year doing doctoral research (from 1952 to 1953) in India and Pakistan. In 1955 he defended his doctoral thesis "India: economy and population", which was published the following year by .