L’HERNAULT, Françoise. Rouen 17.3.1937 — Chennai 30.1.1999. French Scholar of South Indian Art and Archaeology. Studied history, art and archaeology in Paris, also Tamil at É.L.O.V., then two years at Annamalai. From 1971 at É.F.E.O. in Pondichéry in charge of photographic collections. Ph.D. 1984 Paris III (Sorbonne-Nouvelle). She was in…
LEYEN, Friedrich Gustav von der. Bremen 19.8.1873 — Kirchseeon bei München 8.6.1966. German Germanist and Scholar of Folk Literature and Narrative Traditions. Son of Alfred von der Leyen (1844–1934, lawyer and official) and Luise Kapp (1852–1908). After gymnasium in Berlin studies at Marburg, Leipzig and Berlin. Ph.D. 1894 Berlin, in Old…
LEYDEN, John Casper. Denholm, Cavers, Roxburghshire 8.9.1775 — Batavia (Jakarta) 28.8.1811 (or 10.9.?). British (Scottish) Physician and Orientalist, a Pioneer of South-East Asian Studies. Son of John Leyden, a shepherd, and Isabella Scott. He was educated at Kirktown parish school and Edinburgh University, learned Oriental languages already at home in Edinburgh…
LEWIS, John Penry. Galway, Ireland 17.9.1854 (hardly 1851) — Canford Cliffs, Dorset 29.9.1923. British Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of John Lewis and Sarah Scott. After school in Middlesex, studies at Queen’s University in Belfast (B.A. 1876, M.A. 1882). In 1877 joined Ceylon Civil Service, served in revenue and…
LÉVI, Sylvain. Paris 28.3.1863 — Paris 30.10.1935. French Indologist. Professor in Paris. Son of Louis-Philippe Lévi, a Jewish cloth merchant, and Pauline Bloch, the family came from Alsace. After Lycée Charlemagne from 1881 studies in Paris, first Greek, but soon (from 1882) Indology under Bergaigne et al., also IE under…
LEUMANN, Manu. Strassburg 6.10.1889 — Zürich 15.7.1977. Swiss Indo-Iranian Linguist and Classical Philologist. Son of —> Ernst Leumann (1859–1931) and Gertrud Siegemund. Matriculated from Protestant Gymnasium in Strassburg, studies at Strassburg, Göttingen and Berlin under F. C. Andreas, W. Schulze, Wackernagel, Wilamowitz-Möllendorf et al. Ph.D. 1914 Strassburg (under Thumb). Served…
LEUMANN, Julius. Berg, Canton Thurgau 1.9.1867 — Frauenfeld, Canton Thurgau 14.8.1945. Swiss Schoolteacher and Linguist interested in Sanskrit. Son of Johann Konrad Leumann, a Swiss country priest, and Maria (Anna Barbara?) Schelling, brother of —> Ernst Leumann (1859–1931). Gymnasium in Frauenfeld. Studies at Geneva (Oltramare), Zürich (Schweizer-Sidler), Leipzig (Windisch, Leskien,…
LEUMANN, Ernst. Berg, Canton Thurgau 11.4.1859 — Freiburg i.B. 24.4.1931. Swiss Indologist and Pioneer of Khotan Saka Studies in Germany. German citizen 1884. Professor in Strassburg and Freiburg. Son of Johann Konrad Leumann, a Swiss country priest, and Maria (Anna Barbara?) Schelling, brother of —> Julius Leumann (1867–1945). At Frauenfeld…
LESSING, Ferdinand Dietrich (Diedrich). Essen-Altenessen 26.2.1882 — Berkeley, Calif. 31.12.1961. German Sinologist and Central Asian Scholar in the U.S.A. U.S. citizen 1946. Professor in Berkeley. Son of Edward Lessing (1854–1926) and Elisabeth Brockhaus. Gymnasium in Lingen, matriculated in 1902. Studies of Chinese and Russian in Berlin (diplom 1905), guided by…
LESNÝ, Vincenc. Komárovice, Moravia 3.4.1882 — Prague 9.4.1953. Czech Indologist. Professor in Prague. Born in a poor family, son of Baltazar Lesný and Victorie Šuckerlová. After school first in a naval academy at Pula, from 1903 studies at Prague, of classical philology, IE and Indology (Zubatý and Winternitz). Ph.D. 1907/08…