NEISSER, Walter. Schweidnitz, Schlesien (now Świdnica in Poland) 7.2.1860 — Breslau 16.12.1941. German Indologist. Son of Dr.med. Joseph Neisser (1814–1890) and Clara Francolm (1823–1911). After matriculation from Breslau (1877) studies at Breslau (Stenzler) and Göttingen (Benfey). Ph.D. 1882 Göttingen (under A. Fick). Lived his whole life as a private scholar in Breslau doing research on Sanskrit, especially on Veda. He was persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis and in winter 1941 the 80 years old scholar was taken from his small apartment and ended his life by own hand when waiting transportation to a concentration camp. Unmarried.
Neisser was a Vedic scholar who did extremely careful work and therefore published very little. The whole of his published work – in addition to the Vedic glossary – consists of approximately 300 pages. He intended to replace Grassmann’s dictionary and Whitney’s Root index, but could accomplish only a minor part of them. His work shows a curious division into periods: after the dissertation in 1891-94 and again 1902-07 he was active; then complete silence in 1913-24 and again from 1932. His main work has been later (1983) characterized as useful and good.
Publications: Diss. Zur vedischen Verballehre. Teil I. 36 p. Göttingen 1882; also in BB 7, 1883, 211-242.
– “Indogermanisch ger”, BB 13, 1888, 291-299; “Vorvedisches im Veda”, BB 17, 1891, 244-256, with “Entgegnung”, ZDMG 47, 1893, 160-162; “Vedica”, BB 18, 1892, 301-324 & 19, 1893, 120-150, 248-253, 284-292 & 20, 1894, 39-80.
– “Friedrich Bollensen”, BB 24, 1899, 173-179 & A.D.B. 47, 1903, 91f.
– “Ueber die Herausgabe eines altindischen Wurzelwörterbuches”, Jahrb. schles. Ges. für vaterländ. Cultur 80, IV Abt. 1902, 3-14; “Vedisch stuṣe”, BB 27, 1902, 262-280; “Altindisch bhavati/syāt”, Γέρας. Festschrift A. Fick 1903, 215-227; “Indische miszellen”, BB 30, 1906, 299-325; “Zu Ṛgveda V, 61, 12”, ZDMG 61, 1907, 138; “Vedica”, FS. A. Hillebrandt 1913, 144-159.
– Zum Wörterbuch des Ṛgveda. 1-2. 218+95 p. A.K.M. 16:4 & 18:3. Lp. 1924-30 (vowels and gutturals).
– “Altindisch stáuti/stáve”, ZII 3, 1925, 187-200; “Vedica”, ZII 5, 1927, 281-292.
– Review of Güntert, Die arische Weltkönig und Heiland. 1923, JAOS 45, 1925, 280-288; Oertel, The syntax of cases in the narrative and descriptive prose of the Brāhmanas. 1926, ZII 6, 1928, 319-326; Thieme, Das Plusquamperfectum im Veda. 1929, OLZ 35, 1932, 600-605.
– Kleine Schriften. Hrsg. von R. P. Das. 12+344 p. Glasenapp-St. 21. Wb. 1980.
Sources: R. P. Das (ed.), Kl. Schr. 1980, Vorwort, with bibliography; Kuiper, review of Das 1980, IIJ 25, 1983, 308; R. Schmitt, N.D.B. 19, 1998, 52; Stache-Rosen 1990, 139; mother named only in ancestry.com (claiming he was born in Janow, Kattowitz, but same date); photo in Rau 74.
Last Updated on 2 days by Admin
