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EMMERICK, Ronald Eric. Sydney 9.3.1937 — Hamburg 31.8.2001. Australian Indologist, Tibetan and Iranian (Khotan Saka) scholar in the U.K. and Germany. Professor in Hamburg. Son of Eric Steward E., a builder, and Myrtle Caroline Smith. After school in Sydney studied in 1955-59 Classics, French and German at Sydney (B.A. 1959, also learned elements of Sanskrit), then Indo-Iranian under Bailey at Cambridge (B.A. 1961, M.A. & Ph.D. 1965). Now also learned Tibetan. In 1964-67 Research Fellow of St.John’s College, Cambridge, and 1967-71 Lecturer in Iranian Studies at S.O.A.S. In 1967-68 Visiting Associate Professor of Old and Middle Iranian at University of Chicago. From 1971 Professor of Iranian Philology at Hamburg University, taught there until his death. Hon. fellow of Australian Academy of the Humanities 1999. Married Margaret Ann Frohnsdorff, two daughters and one son.

Emmerick was, after Bailey, perhaps the most important scholar of the both Saka dialects, Khotanese and Tumshuq, but also deeply interested in Sanskrit and Āyurveda. In teaching he concentrated on Old and Middle Iranian languages. Among his students was G. Canevascini, A. Degener, Duan Qing and M. Maggi.

Publications: B.A. diss. Mycenaean Morphology. Manuscript 1959.

– Tibetan texts concerning Khotan. 13+160 p. L.O.S. 19. L. 1967.
– Saka Grammatical Studies. 384 p. L.O.S. 20. L. 1968 (rev. Ph.D. diss. of 1965).
– Edited: The Book of Zambasta. 22+455 p. L.O.S. 21. L. 1968.
– Articles on Ravigupta’s Siddhasāra: BSOAS 34, 1971, 91-112 & 363-375; 37, 1974, 628-654.
– The Khotanese Śūraṅgamasamādhisūtra. Edited in Khotanese and Tibetan, transl. 23+133 p. London Or. Ser. 23. L. 1970; The Tumshuqese Karmavācanā. 34 p. A.W.L.Mainz 1985.
– Translated: Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra: the Sutra of Golden Light. 121 p. S.B.B. 27. L. 1970; 2nd rev. ed. Oxford 1990.
– Edited: Saka Documents. 60 pl. Corpus Inscr. Iran. II:5:5-6. L. 1971-73.
– A Guide to the Literature of Khotan. 7+62 p. Tokyo 1979.
– Edited: Siddhasāra of Ravigupta. 1. Sanskrit Text. Wb. 1980; 2. Tibetan Version and English translation. 9+199 p. Wb. 1982 (V.O.H.D. Suppl. 23:1-2).
– With P. O. Skjærvo: Studies in the Vocabulary of Khotanese. 1-3. 133+179+181 p. SWA 401, 458, ???. Vienna 1982-89-97.
– With E. G. Pulleyblank: A Chinese text in Central Asian Brahmi script: new evidence for the pronunciation of late middle Chinese and Khotanese. 80 p. 9 pl. S.O.R. 69. Rome 1993.
– Edited with M. I. Vorob’ëva-Desjatovskaja: Saka Documents. 7. The St. Petersburg Collections. 1-2. Corpus Inscr. Iran. L. 1993-95.
– Edited with R. P. Das: Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṁhitā. The Romanized Text Accompanied by Line and Word Indexes. 20+1036 p. Groningen Or. Studies 13. Gr. 1998.
– Articles in AM, AO, IIJ, BSOAS, JRAS, TPS, etc. Altogether 23 books, 140 articles and 52 reviews (Sundermann).

Sources: M. Maggi, ZDMG 154, 2004, 1-8 with photo & *Encyclop. Iranica online 2009; *C. Scherrer-Schaub, JA 290, 2002, 391-402; W. Sundermann, TSAM 7, 2003, 1-14 with photo (the same text in German, 1-7, and in English transl., 8-14); Proc. Australian Acad. of Humanities 26, 2001 (humanities.org.au); Bio-bibliogr. de 134 savants. 1979, 158f.