GENTIL, Jean Baptiste Joseph. Bagnols-sur-Cèze (Rhône) 25.6.1726 — Bagnols-sur-Cèze (Rhône) 15.2.1799. French Officer in India. Born in a noble family, joined the army and went out to India in 1752 as officer in an infantry regiment. “Served with distinction under Dupleix, Law of Lauriston, Lally, etc. After the collapse of…
GEIGER, Wilhelm Ludwig. Nürnberg 21.7.1856 — Neubiberg near Munich 2.9. 1943. German Iranian Scholar and Indologist. Professor in Erlangen and Munich. Husband of —> Magdalene Geiger. Son of Johannes Leonhard Geiger (1820–1894), a Lutheran minister, and Emma Paur (1832–1918). Studied classical philology and Oriental languages at Berlin, Bonn and Erlangen…
GEIGER, Bernhard. Bielitz-Biala in Austrian Silesia (now Polish Bielsko) 30.4.1881 — New York 5.7.1964. Austrian Indo-Iranian Scholar, later in the U.S.A. Professor in Vienna and New York. Son of Chiel Geiger, a Jewish tailor who moved in 1902 to the U.S.A. School and gymnasium in Biala. Studies of Semitics, Iranian…
GARREZ, Pierre-Gustave. Rome 20.4.1834 — Paris 3.12.1888. French Indologist. Born in Rome, where his architect father, Pierre Gustave Joseph Garrez, lived as a pensionnaire of French Academy, educated in Paris at Collège Henri IV and Collège Louis-le-Grand. Left soon juridical studies and joined the army as a voluntary in 1854.…
GARCIN DE TASSY, Joseph-Héliodore-Sagesse-Vertu. Marseille 20.1.1794 — Paris 2.9.1878. French Indologist (Hindi-Urdu) and Oriental Scholar. Professor in Paris. Son of Joseph Jacques Garcin, a stockbroker, and Claire Virginie Tassy. Educated in Marseille, where he also learned spoken Arabic. From 1817 studies of law in Paris, at the same time Persian…
GAÁL, László. Karcag 22.1.1891 — Karcag 13.6.1964. Hungarian Classical and Iranian Scholar. Professor in Debrecen. Son of László Gal and Zuzsanna Borsos. After gymnasium in Karsag studies of classical and Oriental languages at Kolozsvár University (under Gy. Németh and J. Csengeri), Ph.D. there 1913. Originally he was mainly a classical…
FREJMAN, Aleksandr Arnol’dovič. Warsaw 10.(22.)8.1879 — Leningrad 19.1.1968. Russian Iranist, specialist of Middle Iranian. Professor in Leningrad. Son of an official. After gymnasium in Warsaw in 1889-99, studies of Indo-Iranian and Armenian at Oriental Faculty (under Salemann, Žukovskij, Ol’denburg, Ščerbackoj and Marr) and of linguistics (under Bulič and Baudouin de…
FRASER, James. 1713 — Easter Moniack, Inverness-shire 21.1.1754. British (Scottish) Factor in India, Historian and Manuscript Collector. Son of Alexander Fraser (d. 1733) of Reelick near Inverness. Residing in Surat in 1730-40 he is said to have learned Sanskrit and Avestan (at least he knew Persian). Back in England started…
FRANK, Othmar (born Johann Georg Frank). Bamberg 8.5.1770 — Vienna 16.9.1840. German Pioneer of Indology. Professor in Munich. Son of Konrad Frank, a master tailor, and Maria-Anna Köberlein. After school in Bamberg he entered the Benedictine monastery of Banz near Bamberg (now taking the new name Othmar Frank), and was…
FRANCKLIN, William. 1763 — 12.4.1839. British Colonial Officer and Historian in India. Son of Thomas Fr. (1721–1784), an academic clergyman, and his wife, née Venables. Educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge. Cadet of E.I.C. 1782, joined the Bengal Native Infantry in 1783. In 1786 travelled in Iran, resided 8…