GIRAUDEAU, Pierre-Philippe. Saint-Mars-de-Coutais (Loire-Inférieure) 17.3.1850 — Kangding (Dajianlu), Tibet 13.11.1941. French Catholic Missionary in Tibet. Son of Pierre Jean Giraudeau and Jeanne Guihal. Served in Franco-German war, then turned to religion, ordained priest 1876 in Nantes. In 1877 joined Missions étrangères and after seminary in Paris departed in 1878 to…
GIRARD DE RIALLE, Julien. Paris 27.9.1841 — Santiago (Chile) 23.11.1904. French Civil Servant and Diplomat interested in Indology and Ethnology. Graduated in 1861, travelled anonymously in the Balkans and wrote travel accounts. In 1865-66 by the order of French government in Syria. Privately he studied Sanskrit, Avestan and linguistics (also…
GIORGI, Antonio Agostino (Augustinus Antonius Georgius; baptized Francesco Maria Giorgi). Santo Mauro di Romagna (near Rimini) 10.5.1711 — Rome 4.5.1797. Italian Monk, Theologian, and Orientalist, a Coptic Scholar and Pioneer of Tibetan Studies. Son of Antonio Giorgi (1685–1723) and Antonia Semprini (1687–1767). Augustinian monk since 1726, studied philosophy, science, theology…
GINNEKEN, Jacques (Jacobus Johannes Antonius) van. Oudenbosch (North Brabant) 21.4.1877 — Nijmegen 20.10.1945. S.J. Dutch Linguist and Catholic Apologist. Professor in Nijmegen. Son of Pieter Josephus Hijronimus van Ginneken, a brewer, and Cornelia Jacoba van Aken. Educated at Katwijk and at klein-seminar in Cuzenborg. After father’s death joined the S.J.…
GIL’FERDING, Aleksandr Fedorovič (Alexander Hilferding). Warsaw 2.7.1831 — Kargopol, Arhangelsk oblast 20.7.1872. Russian Historian, Slavic Linguist and Folklorist interested in Sanskrit, a Slavophil. Public servant. Son of Fëdor Ivanovič Gil’ferding (d. 1864), a civil servant, and Amalija Jakovlevna Vitte (d. 1841), ancestors came from Germany in the early 18th century.…
GILDEMEISTER, Johannes Gustav. Klein-Piemen (now Kröpelin), Mecklenburg 20.7.1812 — Bonn 11.3.1890. German Indologist and Orientalist. Professor in Marburg and Bonn. Born in Mecklenburg countryside in a Bremenian patrician family, son of Johann Gildemeister (1784–1844), a merchant and journalist, and Maria Anne Catharine Wienholt (1786–1856). Gymnasium in Bremen, learned there Hebrew…
GILCHRIST, John Borthwick (born John Hay G.). Edinburgh 19.6.1759 — Paris 9.1.1841. British (Scottish) Indologist, a Pioneer of Hindi-Urdu Studies. Son of merchant Walter Gilchrist and Henrietta Farquharson (1730–1830), lost his father at the age of one. After school in Edinburgh studies of medicine at George Heriot’s Hospital, Edinburgh. Joined…
GHILAIN, Antoine. Petit-Rœulx-les-Braine, Hainaut 25.1.1901 — Arquennes, Hainaut 1.4.1947. Abbé. Belgian Catholic Priest and Schoolteacher, Iranian Scholar specialized in Parthian. After school in Soignies attended the seminaries of Bonne-Espérance near Binche (Hainaut) and Tournai. Ordained as priest in 1924. Studied at Leuven (cand.phil. 1926), then taught Latin and Greek at…
GHEYN, Joseph-Marie-Martin van den. Ghent 25.5.1854 — Brussels 29.1. 1913. S.J. Belgian scholar of Religion, Ethnology, Sanskrit and Theology. Son of Edouard van den Gheyn (1814–1888), Professor of chemistry, and Clementia de Gottal. School in Ghent, joined Jesuit order in 1871 in Drongen. Studies at Louvain (Leuven) under de Harlez,…
GERINI, Gerolamo Emilio. Cisano sul Neva (Albenga), prov. Savona 10.3.1860 — Turin 11.10.1913. Italian Officer and South-East Asian Scholar in Thailand. Colonel. Son of Carlo Gerini, Professor of Oenology in Turin, and Veronica Rosso. After Military Academy of Modena he served in Italian army 1879-81. From 1881 twentyfive years in…