PONS, Jean François. Rodez (Aveyron) 6.12.1698 — Chandernagor 1752/53. Father. S.J. French Missionary in India. Novice 1713, in 1726 arrived at Tanjore, from 1731 Superior of Bengal Mission in Chandernagor. In 1734 he visited the observatories of Delhi and Jaipur together with P. Boudier (1686–1757). Later also travelled in south,…
POLIER, Antoine-Louis-Henri. Lausanne ?.2.1741 — near Avignon 9.2.1795. Swiss Officer and Traveller in India. Born in a French Huguenot noble family naturalized in Switzerland, son of Jacques H. E. Polier (1700–1781) and Jeanne-Francoise Moreau de Brosses. He had a good education and showed interest in mathematics. Invited by his uncle…
PLÜTSCHAU (Plütschow, Plütscho), Heinrich. Wesenberg bei Neustrelitz 1676 — Beidenfleth, Kr. Steinburg, Holstein 4.1.1752 (Hantzsch 1747). German Pietist Missionary in India. Educated in Berlin, then studied theology at Halle. Prompted by Francke to enter missionary career he was ordained in Copenhagen in 1705 andarrived at Trankebar (Tamilnadu) in 1706 together…
PIKE, John Gregory. Wisbeth, Cambridgeshire 1845 — 24.6.1905, when 60. Rev. British Baptist Missionary in India. Son of Rev. James Carey Pike and Lucy Wherry (1812–1850). Arrived in India in 1874 with his wife. Worked in Sambalpur, later in Cuttack. Married, children, one daughter married —> G. S. Wilkins. The elder Rev.…
PEIPER, Carl Rudolph Samuel. Striegau, Silesia (now Strzegom in Poland) 20.1.1790 — Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra, Poland) 23.5.1879. German Priest interested in Sanskrit. Son of school director Samuel Gottlob Peiper (1760–1824) and Henriette Caroline Hentschel. Studied theology and Oriental Philology (Arabic). Ph.D. 1823. Soon after studies he got the vicarage of…
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…