COLLIN, August Zacharias. Glimåkra, Skåne 23.8.1833 — Göteborg 23.7.1886. Swedish Schoolteacher interested in Sanskrit. Son of Martin Elmgren C., minister of Glimåkra, and Charlotta Sofia Olin. In 1852-56 studies at Lund (1856 fil.kand.), in 1858 presented his dissertation, 1859 fil.dr. (Ph.D.). Originally he was interested in chemistry and modern languages, in the 1860s began to study Sanskrit. He was in 1861 in England and France, in 1862-63, 1867, and 1874-75 in Germany. According to Charpentier his Meghadūta translation was a poor accomplishment, but the stay at Tübingen (Roth) in 1874-75 made him much better as Sanskritist. He became Docent of chemistry at Lund in 1858 and schoolteacher in Lund 1859. From 1864 until his death he worked as a Lektor at Helsingborg school teaching foreign languages and trying without success to obtain a university post. From the late 1860s on he suffered often of ill-health. He was unmarried.
Publications: Translated: Meghaduta. Molnbudet. 8+80 p. Helsingborg 1866; “Apahâravarmans äfventyr. Af Dandin”, Lund Univ. Årsskrift 1867, 33 p.
– “Om och ur Rigveda 1.”, Ur vår tids forskning Stockholm 1877; “Om och ur Rigveda 2. Veda-tidens gudaverld”, Ur vår tids forskning 22, St. 1878, 112 p. (altogether 220 p.).
– Dissertations at Lund, e.g.: An Essay on the Scoto-English dialect. 85 p. 1862; Recherches sur les diphthongues de la langue française. 32 p. 1863; Examen critique des étymologies islandaises. 22 p. 1864; Sur le conjunctions gothiques. 40 p. 1876; several further publications on Germanic and Swedish philology, school-books, etc.
Sources: J. Charpentier, “Indol. studier i Sverige”, Sv. Orientsällsk. Årsbok 1924, 66; C.S.J. Collin, Sv. Biogr. Lexikon 8, 1929, 741-745 with photo; briefly in Swedish Wikipedia.
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