LÜDERS, Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Christian. Lübeck 25.6.1869 — Badenweiler, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald 7.5.1943. German Indologist. Professor in Berlin. Husband of —> Else Lüders. Son of a factory owner, Friedrich Lüders and Hedwig Heym, he went to school and matriculated in 1888 from Katharineum in Lübeck. After one term of Germanic studies at Munich he studied Indology at Göttingen (under Kielhorn). Ph.D. 1895 Göttingen. Then manuscript studies in Oxford. From 1898 PD at Göttingen, from 1903 eo. Professor at Rostock (ord. 1905-08). After one term as Professor at Kiel he moved to Berlin in 1909 to become Pischel’s successor. He was Secretary (Ständiger Sekretär) of Prussian Academy from 1920-38 and Rector of his university in 1931-32. In 1927-28 visited India. In 1935 emeritus. Married 1900 Else Peipers (1880–1945), one daughter. Died after long illness in a sanatory.
Lüders began his career as Mahābhārata scholar, with Veda and epigraphy as additional interests. In 1908 he became the editor of the planned international project of a critical edition of the epic. The war marred these plans, however, but the edition was later realized in India by Lüders’ student Sukthankar. Since 1910 and especially after the war Lüders’ main interests were the study and editing of the Central Asian manuscript fragments and inscriptions. Still he considered the whole of South Asia as his field, “von Merw bis Mandalay”. His important literary remains were much damaged during the war, and only parts of them have been restored and published by his students. During the WW I he was actively recording language samples in war prisoners’ camp: especially Nepālī, but also Gurung, Khasi and Beṅgalī – all still kept in Berlin (Mahrenholz in Framke et al. 2014, 79).
From the beginning Lüders strongly opposed to the Nazis and when his successor, Breloer, became active Nazi and politicized his Department, he never visited it again. In Prussian Academy he strived to keep politics away. He encouraged young scholars to travel in India. He was popular teacher (Waldschmidt called him gurūttama). Among his numerous students were Printz (Ph.D.1910), Nobel (1911), Zimmer (1913), Zimmermann (1913), Morgenstierne (1918), Sukthankar (1921), and Waldschmidt (1926), further Alsdorf, A. Esteller, M. Geiger, H. Hoffmannand Thieme.
Publications: Diss. Die Vyāsa-Çikṣā, besonders in ihrem Verhältnis zum Taittirīya-Prātiçākhya. 118 p. Göttingen 1895; habil.diss. publ. as Über die Grantharezension des Mahābhārata (Epische Studien 1). AGGW 4, 1900-01, 91 p.
– “Die sage von Ṛṣyaśṛṅga”, NGGW 1897, 87-135 & 1901, 28-56; “Die Jātakas und die Epik. 1. Die Kṛṣṇa-Sage”, ZDMG 58, 1904, 687-714; “Zu den Upaniṣads”, SBeAW 1916:1, 278-309 & 1922, 227-242.
– Das Würfelspiel im alten Indien. 75 p. AGGW N.F. 9:2. B. 1907.
– Druckprobe einer kritischen Ausgabe des Mahābhārata. 18 p. Lp. 1908.
– Bruchstücke buddhistischer Dramen. 89 p. 6 pl. B. 1911; “Über die literarischen Funde von Ostturkestan”, SBeAW 1914, 85-105.
– A List of Brāhmī Inscriptions from the earliest times to about A.D. 400 with the exception of those of Asoka. Appendix to Ep. Ind. 10. 226 p. Calcutta 1912.
– Bruchstücke der Kalpanāmaṇḍiṭīkā des Kumāralāta. 6+208 p. 10 facs. pl. Kleinere Sanskrit-Texte 2. Lp. 1926.
– “Kātantra und Kaumāralāta”, SBeAW 1930, 482-538; “Weitere Beiträge zur Geschichte und Geographie von Ostturkestan”, SBeAW 1930, 7–64.
– Textilien im alten Turkistan. 38 p. ABeAW 1936:3.
– Bhārhut und die buddhistische Literatur. 182 p. A.K.M. 26:3. Lp. 1941.
– Numerous articles in ZDMG, EI, SBeAW, etc., many collected in Philologica Indica. 6+812 p. Göttingen 1940; and in Kleine Schriften. 1973 (below).
– Edited by L. Alsdorf: Varuṇa. 1-2. 8+337, 23+424 p. Göttingen 1951-59.
– Edited by E. Waldschmidt: Beobachtungen über die Sprache des Buddhistischen Urkanons. 196 p. ADAW 1952:10. B. 1954; by E.W. & M. A. Mehendale: Bharhut Inscriptions. 38+201 p. 48 pl. C.I.I. 2:2. Ootacamund 1963.
– Edited by K. L. Janert: Mathurā Inschriften. 320 p. AGAW 3:47. Gött. 1961.
– Kleine Schriften. Hrsg. von O. von Hinüber. 16+561 p. Glasenapp-St. 7. Wb. 1973.
Sources: R.N.D[andekar], ABORI 24, 1943, 283f.; Dreyer (41-63) and Framke (92-94) in Framke et al. 2014; M. Ghosh, IHQ 20, 1944, 209f.; *P.K. Gode, IC 12, 1945-46, 176; *H.H. Schaeder, KZ 68, 1943/44, 223-225; W. Schubring, ZDMG 97, 1943, 157-165 (with photo); Stache-Rosen 1990, 167-169; Stache-Weiske 2017, 542; E. Waldschmidt, Forsch. u. Fortschritte 19, 1943, 250-252 (Kl. Schr. 11-13); F. Wilhelm, N.D.B. 15, 1987, 453f.; Wikipedia with photo (more in German version); photo in Rau 90 (from Lüders 1940), another in Sardesai, two further in Indology in GDR. 1978.
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