KERN, Johan Caspar Hendrik. Poerworedjo, Bagelen, Central Java 6.4.1833 — Utrecht 4.7.1917. Dutch Indologist and Indonesian Scholar. Professor in Leiden. Son of a colonial officer, Johan Hendrik Kern (1799–1863) and Marta Corradina Schindler (1803/04–1894), came from Java to the Netherlands with his parents in the age of seven to start school there. Gymnasium in Zutphen. From 1850 studies at Utrecht and from 1851 at Leiden, in addition to classical and German philology learned Sanskrit (from Rutgers) and Slavic. After Ph.D. in October 1855 further studies at Berlin under Weber. Back in 1857 he became Docent of German at Utrecht and one year later school-teacher of Greek in Maastricht. In 1862 he went to London to prepare his Varāhamihira edition and in 1863 to Benares as Anglo-Sanskrit Professor at Queen’s College. As teacher Bhaṭṭa-Karṇa was a success, but himself he felt deeply disappointed in India and returned after two years. In 1865 he was appointed the first holder of the new chair of Sanskrit at Leiden (first in the Netherlands), also taught Indonesian languages. In 1903 he had to retire, although reluctantly, and was succeeded by Speyer. In retirement he lived in Utrecht, where he soon was invalided in a minor accident, but kept his ability to work. Married 1859 Hendrika Anna Wijnveldt (1833?–1860), then 1866 Annette Moïse de Chateleux (1839–1916), three sons (—> Johan Hendrik Kern, 1867–1933) and two daughters with the second. Death of his wife in 1916 broke his spirit.
As an Indologist Kern made his main work on Buddhism, though he was really more interested in Hindu India. He was well known, but controversial authority, who claimed the Buddha to be a Solar deity and interpreted his legend wholly in astral terms. At early stage of his career he also made important contributions to Indian astronomy and astrology. He published important text editions and translations. Prompted by van der Tuuk he started Kavi studies in 1868 and soon became one of the leading Indonesian philologists and of the founders of comparative Malayo-Polynesian linguistics. He was also an epigraphist and edited many Sanskrit and Kavi inscriptions from India, South-East Asia and Indonesia. Among his students were Speyer, Caland, Uhlenbeck, Vliet and Warren in Indology, Adriani, Brandes, Hazeu, Jonker, Juynboll and van Ronkel in Indonesian.
Publications: Diss. Specimen historicum exhibens scriptores graecos de rebus persicis Achaemenidarum monumentis collatos. 130 p. Lugd. Bat. 1855.
– Translated: Çakuntala of het herkenningsteeken, door Kâlidâsa. 6+217 p. Haarlem 1861.
– “On some fragments of Āryabhaṭṭa”, JRAS 20, 1863, 371-387.
– Edited: Varāhamihira, Bṛhat-samhitā. 64+508+77 p. B.I. 46. Calcutta 1864-65; Āryabhaṭīya. A manual of astronomy, with the commentary Bhaṭadīpikā of Paramādīçvara. 12+107 p. Leiden 1874; “Die Yogayâtrâ des Varâhamihira”, ISt 10, 1868, 161ff.; 14, 1876, 312ff.; 15, 1878, 167ff. (Verspr. Geschr. 1).
– “The Bṛhat-Samhitā; or Complete System of Natural Astrology of Varāhamihira. Translated from Sanskrit into English”, JRAS 4, 1870, 430-479; 5, 1871, 45-90, 231-288; 6, 1873, 36-91, 279-338; 7, 1875, 81-134; Verspr. Geschr. 2, 104ff.
– Kawi-Studiën. Arjuna-wiwâha. Zang I en II in tekst en vertaaling. the Hague 1871; Wṛtta-Sañc’aya, oudjavaansch leergedicht over versbouw in Kawi-tekst en Ned. vertaling. 207 p. Leiden 1875.
– Over de jaartelling der zuidelijke Buddhisten en de gedenkstukken van Açoka den Buddhist. 120 p. V.K.N.A.W. 8. Amsterdam 1875.
– Geschiedenis van het Buddhisme in Indië. 1-2. Haarlem 1882-84, German translation by H. Jacobi: Der Buddhismus und seine Geschichte in Indien. 1-2. Lp. 1882-84, French translation. A.M.G. 10-11. P. 1901-03 (earlier abridged version“Histoire du bouddhisme dans l’Inde (premier article)”, RHR 4, 1881, 149-165; “Histoire du bouddhisme dans l’Inde (second article): livre premier. — le bouddha: chapitre premier. La légende du Bouddha”, RHR 5, 1882, 49-88, 145-226; “Histoire du bouddhisme dans l’Inde: quatrième article: livre premier. — Le Bouddha”, RHR 7, 1883, 17-62).
– Manual of Indian Buddhism. 145 p. Grundriss. III:8. Strassburg 1896, Japanese translation. 1914.
– Translated: Sad-dharma-pundarika or the Lotus of the True Law. 42+454 p. S.B.E. 21. Oxford 1884.
–Bijdrage tot de verklaring van eenige woorden in Paligeschriften voorkomende. 80 p. V.K.N.A.W. Afd. Letterk. 17. Amsterdam 1888; ; “Das Verbum āyūhati in Pāli”, IF 25, 1909, 234-238.
– Edited:The Jātakamālā or Bodhisattvāvadāna-mālā by Ārya-Çūra. 12+254 p. H.O.S. 1. Cambridge, Mass. 1890.
– Edited: Râmâyaṇa. Oudjavaansch heldendicht. 7+216+18 p. den Haag 1900; Dutch translation of the same in BTLVNI 73, 1917; De legende van Kuñjarakarṇa volgens het oudstgekende handschrift, met Oudjavaanschen tekst, Ned. vert. en aanteekeningen. 90 p. V.K.N.A.W. 3:3. 1901; Het oud-javaansche lofdicht Nāgarakṛtāgama van Prapañca (1365 A.D.). 7+320 p. ’s-Gr. 1914 (originally in BTLVNI, now with notes by N. J. Krom asVerspr. Geschr. 7-8).
– Edited with B. Nanjio: Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtram. 523 p. Bibl. Buddh. 10. St.P. 1908-10.
– “Deutung einer missverstandenen Stelle im Mahāvastu”, IF 31, 1912-13, 194-197.
– Toevoegselen op ’t Woordenboek van Childers. 1-2. 179+140 p. V.K.N.A.W. 16:4-5. Amsterdam 1916.
– Schoolbooks on Dutch, articles on German, IE and Iranian.
– Numerous articles and reviews in JRAS, V.K.N.A.W., MKNAW, BTLVNI, De Gids, etc., collected in Verspreide Geschriften. 1-15. 82+5055 p. ’s-Gravenhage 1913-26; 16. Register en Bibliogr. ibid. 1929, 17. Supplement. 1936.
Sources: *Album Kern. 1903 with bibliography; Buckland, Dictionary; *W. Caland, Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde 1918, 1-30; H. Cordier, TP 17, 1916, 555; *L. Finot, BEFEO 17:6, 1917, 59f.; *H. ’t Hart, “Imagine Leiden without Kern”, W. Otterspeer (ed.), Leiden Oriental Connections 1850–1940. Studies in the Hist. of Leiden Univ. 5. Leiden 1989, 126-140; H. van der Hoeven, BWN 3, 1989, 320-322; *H. F. Hofmann, Lex. gramm. 1996, 509; *S. F. Ol’denburg, Izv. Ross. A.N. 6:12, 1918:16 (=Mél. as. 1918), 1761-1766; Peiris, Buddhism 214-216; Sengupta 1996, 143-150; J. Silk, “Kern and the Study of Indian Buddhism”, JPTS 31, 2012, 125-154; *Snouck Hurgronje, Bijdr. TLV van Ned.-Indië 73:2, 1917; Stache-Weiske 2017, 200-202, 534; *A. Thomas, CRAI 61, 1917, 236-240; *C.C. Uhlenbeck. Jaarboek van de K. Akad. van Wetenschappen 1917, 15-47; *T. Vetter, “H.K. and the Lotussutra”, Annual Report of Intern. Res. Inst. for Advanced Buddhology 2, 1998, 129-141; J.-Ph. Vogel, F.W. Thomas & C.O. Blagden, JRAS 1918, 173-184; *ABIA 8, 1935, 1f.; Wikipedia with portrait and bust (more details in German version); Dutch Indology homepage with further references.
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