HROZNÝ, Bedřich (Friedrich Hr.). Lissa (now Lysá nad Labem) 6.5.1879 — Prague 12.12.1952. Czech Orientalist (Assyriologist and Hittite Scholar), attempted at Decipherment of Indus Script. Professor in Prague. Son of Václav Hr. (d. 1896), a Lutheran priest, and Anna Šimáčková. Educated in Prague and Köln (Kolín), now learnt Hebrew and Arabic. From 1897 studies of Cuneiform, Semitic and Sanskrit at Vienna. Ph.D. 1901 Vienna. From 1905 taught at Vienna University. From 1919 Professor at Prague. Conducted several excavations in the Near East and became famous as one of the leading scholars of Hittite. Several visits to the Near East, in 1924-25 led an Chechoslovakian archaeological expedition to Syria and Turkey. A heart attack in 1944 impended further work. Married 1909 Vlasta Procházková, two daughters.
Hrozný was the first to show the IE character of Hittite (1915). His attempt at the Indus script was much less succesful as well as his attempts at Hittite (Luwian) Hieroglyphs and Linear B.
Publications: Numerous studies on Hittite, note “Hethiter und Inder”, Z. für Assyriologie 38, 1929, 184f. on religion; “Die Länder Churri und Mitanni und die ältesten Inder”, ArO 1, 1929, 91-101, 252f.; “L’entraïnement des chevaux chez les anciens indo-européens d’après un texte Mitannien-Hittite provenant du 14e siècle av. J.-C-”, ArO 3, 1931, 431-461.
– Die älteste Völkerwanderung und die protoindische Zivilization, ein Versuch, die Proto-Indischen Inschriften von Mohendscho-Daro zu Entziffern. 24 p. 20 pl. Monogr. Archívu Orientálního 7. Prag 1939 (also in Czech); “Protoindijskie pis’mena i ix rasšifrovka”, VDI 1940:2, 15-34 (signed B. Groznyj); “Inschriften und Kultur der Proto-Inder von Mohenjo-Dari und Harappa (ca. 2500 – 2200 v.Chr.). Ein Entzifferungsversuch”, ArO 12, 1941, 192-259 & 13, 1942, 1-102 (also in ArO 19, 1951, 404f.).
Sources: Bihl 74-76; *M. David, Revue d’Assyriologie 47, 1953, 96-100; *J.P. Rona, La obra de Federico Hrozný en el dominio indoeuropeo. 107 p. Montevideo 1957 (cf. ArO 28, 1960, 331f.); bibliography in ArO 11, 1939, 140-154 and 17:1 (Fs. Hrozný), 1949, 1-20; several articles on him and his work in ArO 21, 1953; Kdo byl kdo – čeští a slovenští orientalisté; Wikipedia with photo (another and much more details in *Czech version); photo in his 1939 book, another in Fs. 1949, both in TITUS Galeria.
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