PRIAULX, Osmond de Beauvoir. Guernsey 5.3.1805 — Woking, Surrey 15.1.1891. British Classical Scholar interested in India. Born in a wealthy family, son of Anthony Priaulx (1775–1820) and Martha Gore (1780–1811), studied law at Cambridge (St. Claire’s College, M.A.). Called to the bar 1832, but never practised law. Instead he lived…
PRENDERGAST, Thomas. Madras 22.4.1806 — Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 14.11.1886. Sir. British Civil Servant and Linguist in India. Son of General Sir Jeffery Prendergast (1769–1856), of Indian army, and Elizabeth Dalrymple. After studies at Haileybury in 1825-26 joined the Madras Civil Service in 1826, served in Tanjore, Nellore, Guntur and Tinnevelly. Finally…
PRELLWITZ, Walther. Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk in Russia) 4.2.1864 — 1945. German Greek and IE Linguist. Probably student of Bezzenberger. Ph.D. 1885 Königsberg. Worked as teacher in Tilsit. From 1901 PD (?), from 1924 ao. Professor of Comparative Linguistics at Königsberg. The Lithuanian page www.mlw.lt claims that he died…
PRATT, John Henry. London 4.6.1809 (?) — Ghazipur 28.12.1871. Rev. British Clergyman, Astronomer and Mathematician in India. Son of Rev. Josiah Pratt (1768–1844) and Elizabeth Jowett. After Oakham School studies at Caius College, Cambridge. B.A. 1833, M.A. 1836. From 1838 chaplain in service of E.I.C., from 1850 Archdeacon of Calcutta.…
POULTNEY, James Wilson. Chattolanee, county Baltimore, MD 21.9.1907 — Baltimore 8.6.1993. U.S. IE Linguist and Classical Scholar. Professor in Baltimore. Son of William D. Poultney (1872–1931) and Elinor Donnell Wilson (1882–1974). M.A. 1932, Ph.D. 1934 Johns Hopkins (diss. on Aristophanes). In 1934-37 taught Greek and Latin at Johns Hopkins. Then…
POUCHA, Pavel. Vienna 29.12.1905 — Prague 15.1.1986. Czech Indo-Iranian, Mongolian and Tocharian Scholar. Son of tailor František Poucha. After early years in Vienna, where his parents lived for a while, he came in the age of seven to Neuhaus (now Jindřichův Hradec in Southern Bohemia) and attended classical gymnasium there.…
POTTINGER, Henry. Ballymacarrett, county Down 3.10.1788 — Malta 18.3.1855. Sir (Bart). British Colonial Officer in India. Born in a Protestant Berkshire family settled in Northern Ireland. Son of Eldred Curwen Pottinger and Anne Gordon, educated at Belfast; went to sea and to India [1804] to join the marine service, but…
POTT, August Friedrich. Nettelrede (now Nesselröden) near Hannover 14.11.1802 (or 14.9.) — Halle 5/6.7.1887. German IE Scholar. Professor in Halle. Son of a minister, he lost early his father and at nine also his mother. Grew up in the home of his uncle, Rev. G. H. Deicke (1765–1843), attended lyceum…
POTEBNJA, Oleksandr Opanasovyč (Russian Aleksandr Afanasevič). Maniv near Havrylivka (Gavrilovka), dt. Poltava 10/22.9.1835 — Harkiv 29.11./11.12.1891. Ukrainian Linguist. Born in a noble Cossack family. After school in Radom (now in Poland) studied from 1851 at Harkov (Harkiv) law, history and philology (graduated 1856) and then Slavistics (grad. 1860), i.al. under…
POŠKA, Antanas Jonas (until 1929 Paškevicius). Gripkeliai, dt. Panévezys 24.3.1903 — Vilnius 16.10.1992. Lithuanian Oriental Scholar, Anthropologist and Archaeologist. Born in a peasant family, son of Jonas Paškevičius and Elena Stapulionis. From 1921 living in Kaunas, doing odd jobs and concentrating on Esperanto. In 1926-29 studied physical Anthropology at Kaunas…