DUMONT, Paul-Émile. Brussels 27.8.1879 — Baltimore 8.12.1968. Belgian Indologist in the U.S.A. Professor in Baltimore. Son of Constant Louis Michel D., the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Belgium, and Hermine Devos. Studies at Bruxelles in 1897-99, graduated in philosophy. Now studied Sanskrit at Bologna under Pullé. Ph.D. 1903 Bologna. Taught Sanskrit at Kiel, with further studies under Oldenberg and Deussen. In 1914 had to quit Germany because of the war, worked now at Oxford under Macdonell. In 1924-29 chargé de cours at Brussels. For a while further studies at Utrecht under Caland (1929). In 1929 Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, from 1931 Professor of Sanskrit and Indology there. Retired in 1958, but continued teaching. Married 1937 Marguerite Howard, no children.
Dumont was a noted specialist of Vedic ritual, especially of the Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa. He wrote important studies on the Aśvamedha, Agnihotra and Agnicayana rituals. His work was never properly evaluated and we are eagerly waiting the biography promised by Chr. Vieille.
Publications: Diss. Degli scambi di parole avvenetti fra l’India e il mondo ellenico in seguito ai loro rapporti politici e commerciali, e delle leggi fonetiche che se ne possano trarre. Manuscript? 1903.
– With J. Brune: “Ṛgveda 5, 61, 12”, ZDMG 60, 1906, 552-555.
– Transl. Histoire de Nala. 173 p. Bruxelles 1923; L’Īśvaragītā, le chant de Śiva, texte extrait du Kūrma-Purāṇa. 251 p. Baltimore & P. 1933.
– Articles on the Kūrmapurāṇa in OC 19, Rome 1935, 1938, 381-383 & Siddheshwar Varma Vol. 1950.
– With W. F. Albright: “A parallel between Indic and Babylonian sacrificial ritual”, JAOS 54, 1934, 107-128.
– L’Aśvamedha. Description du sacrifice solemnel du cheval dans le culte védique les textes du Yajurveda blanc. 36+415 p. P. 1927; L’Agnihotra: Description de l’agnihotra dans le rituel védique. 16+226 p. Baltimore & L. 1939.
– “The Horse-Sacrifice in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa: the 8th and 9th prapāṭhakas of the third kāṇḍa of the TB with transl.”, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 92:6, 1948, 447-503; “The Special Kinds of Agnicayana according to the Kaṭhas in the Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa. The X, XI, and XII prapāṭhakas of the third kāṇḍa of the TB”, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 95:6, 1951; “Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, Text and English Translation: The Full-Moon and New-Moon Sacrifices”, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 101, 1957, 216-243; 103, 1959, 584-608; 104, 1960, 1-10; 105, 1961, 11-36; “—: The Agnihotra or Fire-God Oblation”, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 108, 1964, 337-353; “The Kāmya Animal Sacrifices in the Taittirīya-Brāhmaṇa: The Eighth Prapāṭhaka of the Third Kāṇḍa of the Taittirīya-Brāhmaṇa; with Translation”, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 113, 1969, 34-66.
– Further articles on the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa: Mélanges Boisacq 1937, 339-341 (on TS 4, 7, 13), JAOS 1956, 1957, OC 21, Paris 1948, Mélanges Renou, etc.
– Smaller articles, e.g. “The Indic God Aja Ekapād”, JAOS 53, 1933, 326-334; “Vedic anyedyúḥ and ubhayedyúḥ (ubhayadyuḥ)”, JAOS 59, 1939, 425-430; “Indo-Aryan Names from Mitanni, Nuzi, and Syrian Documents”, JAOS 67, 1947, 251-253; “The Meaning of the Vedic Word ghoṣád”, JAOS 75, 1955, 117f.; “The Manuscript of the Ṛgveda of the M. A. Stein Collection”, W. N. Brown Vol. 1962, 51-55.
– Ed. & tr. “The Avyakta Upaniṣad”, JAOS 60, 1940, 338-355.
Sources: *Chr. Vieille, ”P.-É.D. (1879–1968) in memoriam: his contribution to the study of Vedic ritual texts”, paper read at Vedic Workshop in Kozhikode 2014, summary in dial.uclouvain.be; K.V. Sarma, VIJ 7, 1969, 157f.; Dir. Am. Sch. 1st ed. 1942; Who Was Who in Am. 6; two photos in gettyimages database.
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