PAULINUS A SANCTO BARTHOLOMAEO (Fra. Paolino da S. Bartolomeo, lay Ivan/Johann Filip Vezdin [or Vesdin, not Verdin or Werdin]). Hof am Leithaberge (Cimov) 25.4.1748 — Rome 7.2.1806. Austrian (Croatian) Missionary and Pioneer of Indology. Carmelite missionary in Kerala 1776-89, then in Rome. Born in Niederösterreich as son of Jurje Vezdin and…
PALMBLAD, Vilhelm Fredrik. Skönberga, Östergötland 16.12.1788 — Uppsala 2.9.1852. Swedish Historian interested in India. Professor in Uppsala. Son of a warden (kronofogd) Carl Fredrik P., and Eva Katarina Fahlstedt, the father died when he was 10. In the age of 14 became disabled through a pelvic illness. From 1806 studies…
VOLNEY DE CHASSEBOEUF (BOISGIRAIS), Constantin-François, comte de. Craon, Anjou 3.2.1757 — Paris 25.4.1820. French Asian Traveller, Historian, Philosopher and Politician. Son of Jacques-René Chasseboeuf (1727–1796), a lawyer, and Jeanne Gigault (1728–1759), of minor nobility. Studied classics in Paris and soon befriended with intellectuals. In 1782 left for Egypt, then travelled…
VEYSSIÈRE DE LACROZE, Mathurin (M. V. de La Croze). Nantes 4.12.1661 — Berlin 21.5.1739. French Oriental Scholar and Polyhistor. Son of a rich merchant, he left school and went to the colony of Guadeloupe to learn trade. Back in Nantes (1677) and after the bankruptcy of his father studied medicine,…
VENTURA, Giovanni (Jean-Baptiste Ventura, originally Rubino ben Torah). Finale near Modena 25.5.1794 — Lardenne near Toulouse 3.4.1858. Italian Officer in India. Son of Gavriel Massarani (Reuben Ben Torah) and his wife Vittoria. He had traditional Jewish education, but joined army in the age of 17. Rising into colonel of infantry…
VANSITTART, Henry. Bloomsbury, Middlesex 3.6.1732 — on sea 1770. British Civil Servant in India. Son of Arthur van Sittart (1691–1760), a wealthy merchant of Dutch origin, and Martha Stonhouse. “Educated at Reading [school] and Winchester [college]; went out as a writer of the E.I.C. to the Madras service, 1745. To…
UPHAM, Edward. Exeter 1776 — Bath 25.8.1834. British Bookdealer and Orientalist. Born in Exeter, where his father Charles Upham was later (1796) the mayor. Himself worked as bookseller in Exeter, in 1807 became its sheriff and 1809 mayor. After earlyretirement lived in Dawlish (Devon) and Bath. Married 1801 Mary Hoblyn…
ŽUKOVSKIJ, Vasilij Andreevič. Tula province 19.1.(9.2.)1783 — Baden-Baden 12.(24.)4.1852. Russian poet. He was illegitimate son of a landowner, Afanasij Bunin and Turkish slave girl Salkha, adopted by a family friend (hence the surname Ž.). From the age of 14 educated at Moscow University. He served in the Napoleonic War of…
ZIEGENBALG, Bartholomäus. Pulsnitz, Saxony 14.6.1683 (or 10.6.1682?) — Tranquebar, India 23.2.1719. German Missionary and Precursor of Indology (Tamil Scholar). In South India 1706-19. Son of the elder B.Z. (1640–1694), a modest grain merchant, and Maria Brückner (1646–1692). After gymnasium in Görlitz and Berlin, studied one year under A. H. Francke…
YATES, William. Loughborough, Leicestershire 15.12.1792 — on sea 3.7.1845. Rev. British Missionary and Indologist in India. Son of elder William Yates, a Baptist shoemaker, and his wife Ann, went to school in Leicestershire. He intended to follow in his father’s profession, but became engaged in religion and started in the…