DILLON, Myles Patrick. Dublin 11.4.1900 — Dublin 18.6.1972. Irish Indologist and Linguist, partly in the U.S.A. Professor in Dublin, etc. Son of the well-known politician and freedom fighter John Dillon (1851–1927) and Elizabeth Mathew (1865–1907). Educated in Dublin and Wexford, then studies at University College (National University of Ireland), B.A. 1921, M.A. 1923. As a travelling fellow in 1922-25 further studies (mainly Celtology) at Berlin (Pokorny), Bonn (Thurneysen) and Heidelberg (Zimmer). In 1925-27 Reader of English at Sorbonne in Paris (and further studies under Vendryes, Meillet and Lévi). Ph.D. 1926 Bonn, M.A. 1930 Trinity College, Dublin. In 1928-30 Lecturer in Comparative Philology and Sanskrit at Trinity College in Dublin, 1930-37 the same at University College in Dublin. In 1937-46 Professor of Gaelic and Irish history and literature at University of Wisconsin, 1946-47 Professor of Celtic Philology and Comparative Linguistics at University of Chicago. Then for a while in Irish government service, i.al. as an attaché in London Embassy. After a brief time as Professor of Celtic at Edinburgh University he became Senior Professor of Celtic Studies at Institute for Advanced Studies in Dublin, and was in 1960-68 its director. Thus Boylan, but MacCana and Raghallaigh say that he moved directly from Chicago to Edinburgh (1947-49 there) and then to Dublin. In 1969-70 visiting Professor in India (Simla and Pune). Married 1938 Elizabeth Mary La Touche, three sons and two daughters.
Publications: The Nāṭakalakṣaṇa of Sāgaranandin. 1. Text. 20+147 p. Oxford 1937.
– Translation of the same, The Nāṭakalakṣaṇa-ratnakośa of S., a 13th century Treatise on the Hindu Theater. Revised by M. Fowler and V. Raghavan. 74 p. Tr. Amer. Phil. Soc. N.S. 50:9. Philadelphia 1960.
– “The Hindu act of truth in Celtic tradition”, Modern Philology 44, 1947, 137-140; “Celt and Hindu”, VIJ 1, 1963, 203-223.
– Celts and Aryans. Survivals of the Indo-European Speech and Society. 153 p. Simla 1975.
– Important books about and translations from Old Irish, many articles, also on comparative Celtic and Indo-European philology.
Sources: H. Boylan, A Dict. of Irish Biography. 1978; P. MacC[ana], Annual Report of R. Irish Acad. 1972-73; E.Ó Raghallaigh, D.I.B. 3, 311f.; Dir. of Am. Sch. 1st ed. 1942; Wikipedia with photo.
*J. Fischer and J. Dillon (eds.), The Correspondence of Myles Dillon, 1922—1925: Irish German Relations and Celtic Studies. Dublin 1998.
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