BRIESS, Erwin Eduard. Olmütz (Olomouc), Moravia 9.5.1886 — 1946. Austrian Student of Indology. Studies of Oriental Philology at Vienna, Ph.D. 1912. Moved soon to Switzerland and lived in Zürich as author and journalist. Apparently became Swiss citizen as he is later called Swiss. Publications: Diss. Das Rta und die Âdityas.…
BREWSTER, Earl Henry. Chagris Falls, Ohio 21.9.1878 — Almora 19.9.1957. U.S. Artist (Painter) and Author. Educated in Cleveland and N.Y. Schools of Art. Worked as painter in New York, had exhibitions. In 1910 married Achsah Barlow (an artist, d. 1945, one daughter), now began long time nomadic life mostly in…
BRENNAND, William. 1818? — ?.2.1897. British Teacher in India, Principal of Dacca College (1856). In 1896 had already been 23 years in retirement, living in Somerset. Apparently he claims a common Central Asian origin for the astronomical knowledge of India, Mesopotamia and China. Publications: Hindu Astronomy. 14+328 p. L. 1896;…
BRELOER, Bernhard. Herne, Westfalen 8.11.1894 — Tbilisi 20.4.1947. German Indologist. Professor in Berlin. Son of mill owner Bernhard Br. and Auguste Lueg. Participated in the WW I. Studied a brief time at Jena, then at Bonn (under Jacobi and Kirfel) and Munich (W. Geiger) Indology, also classical philology, and musicology.…
BREEKS, Susan Maria (née Denison). Woolwich, Kent 16.3.1841 — Brough, Cumbria 22.4.1923. Britishwoman in India, wife of —> James Wilkinson Breeks. Daughter of Colonel Sir William Denison and Caroline Hornby, marriage 1863. After her husband’s death in 1872 she edited his report on the tribes and sepulchral monuments of the…
BREEKS, James Wilkinson. Warcop, Westmoreland 5.3.1830 — Ootacamund 7.6.1872. British Civil Servant and Ethnologist in India. Son of Richard Breeks and Elizabeth Wilkinson, educated at Haileybury. Arrived at Madras in 1849, served in revenue and financial departments. In 1861-64 Private Secretary to Governor William Denison (whose daughter he married 1863),…
BRÉAL, Michel-Jules-Alfred. Landau (Pfalz) 26.3.1832 — Paris 25.11.1915. French IE scholar. Professor in Paris. Son of Auguste Bréal (d. 1839), a lawyer, and Caroline Worms. Educated in Wissembourg, Metz and Paris (Lycée Louis-le-Grand), then 1852-55 at École normale. Teacher in Strasbourg (1855) and Paris (Louis-le-Grand, 1856). Studied in 1857-60 Sanskrit…
BRAY, Denys de Saumarez. Aberdeen 29.11.1875 — Winchester 19.11.1951. British Civil Servant in India, a Scholar of Baluchistan and its Languages (Brahui). Son of Rev. Thomas William Bray and Rachel Le Mesurier. Educated at the Realgymnasium in Stuttgart and Blundell’s School in Tiverton, then at the Balliol College, Oxford. In 1898…
BRASSAI, Sámuel. Torockó (now Rimetea in Romania) or Torockószentgyörgy (Coltești) 15.6.1797 or 13.2.1800 — Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) 27.6.1897. Hungarian Philosopher and Polyhistor, who translated a specimen of the Hitopadeśa in 1884. Born in a Transylvanian Saxon family, son of the elder Samuel Br., a priest and teacher, and…
BRANFILL, Brydges Robinson. Upminster Hall, Essex 22.11.1834 (or 1833?) — Billericay, Essex 26.5.1905. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of Champion Edward Br. (d. 1844) and Anna Eliza Hammond. From 1854 in Bengal Cavalry, Lieutenant-colonel (1876). From 1871 Deputy-Superintendent in Trigonometrical Survey of India, in charge of Madras Party (in…