SIEGFRIED, Rudolf Thomas. Dessau 1830 — Dublin 10.1.1863. German IE and Celtic Scholar in Ireland. Professor in Dublin. From Dessau. Studied 1850-51 at Tübingen under Roth, then at Berlin under Bopp and Weber, became soon interested in Celtology and went to England to write a comparative grammar. After reading the work of Zeuss he gave up this project, but studied Cymric in Wales. Invited to Ireland, he was in 1858-62 Lecturer in Sanskrit at Trinity College, Dublin, and from 1862 Professor of Sanskrit there, but died soon, being little over 30 and was succeeded by Lottner. Whitley Stokes was his student.

Siegfried was described as a talented linguist, who had no time to prepare anything important for publication. According to Stokes his papers contained more than 3000 pages, among them an English translation of the Śakuntalā and a German of 29 Vedic hymns, more or less completed drafts for an introduction to comparative philology for classical students, an essay on some names of deities in Celtic languages, an essay about the IE unity, teacher’s notes on elementary Sanskrit, Sanskrit grammar, and Pāṇini, further on Greek and Latin grammar, Old Prussian, Lithuanian, Anglo-Saxon, English and, of course, Celtology. He participated in the opening of Gallic, studied Irish, Cymric and Cornish, even Finnish, translating some parts of the Kalevala.

Publications: According to Stokes published nothing under his own name.

– Anonymous reviews of Glück’s Keltische Names and Pictet’s Origines Indo-Européennes in Saturday Review; 19 Irish notes published by Stokes in his Irish Glosses, a number of further notes included by Stokes in his Three Irish Glossaries and in his articles in the KZ.

– Explanation and translation of the Gallic inscription of Poitiers, published by Lottner.

– “Miscellanea Celtica von dem verstorbenen R. T. S. Gesammelt, geordnet und hrsg. von W. Stokes”, Beitr. zur vergl. Sprachforschung 6, 1870, 1-18.

Sources: *P.Ó Dochartaigh, “A shadowy but important figure: Rudolf Thomas Siegfried”, The Tripartite Life of Whitley Stokes (1830-1909). 2011, 29-43; Gosche, Wiss. Jahresber. 1862-67 in ZDMG 186?, 59 (4 lines); Wh. Stokes, preface to S. publ. 1870, 1-6; German Wikipedia with bust.

“Briefe an Theodor Benfey”, BB 13, 1888, contains two letters by S., p. 156-158.