WALTHER, Christoph Theodosius (Ñānavālutār). Schildberg in Neumark, Pomerania (now Golenice in Poland) 20.12.1699 — Dresden 29.4.1741. German Missionary and Precursor of Indology in India. Son of a minister, lost early his father and was educated by his maternal grandfather, Rev. David Torfstecher. After gymnasium in Stargard worked as teacher and…
ROTTLER, Johann Peter. Strassburg (Strasbourg) ?.6.1749 — Madras 24/27.1.1836. German Lutheran Missionary and Tamil Scholar in India. Educated at gymnasium and university in Strasbourg, ordained priest 1775 Copenhagen. Arrived at Tranquebar in 1776. Studied Tamil and botany, sent botanical specimens to Erlangen, Paris and especially London (Kew Garden) and became…
ROST, Ernst Reinhold. Eisenberg, Sachsen-Altenburg 2.2.1822 — Canterbury 7.2.1896 (thus Wikipedia, Weise & Wollaston; Stache-Weiske 2007 d. London 15.2.1896). German Indologist and South-East Asian Scholar in the U.K. Son of Christian Friedrich Rost, a Lutheran minister. After school in Altenburg studies of theology and Oriental languages at Jena (under Gildemeister). Ph.D. 1847…
ROGER, Abraham (A. Rogerius). Haarlem (?) 1609 — Gouda 1649. Dutch Reformed Priest in India and Indonesia. Son of Abraham Rogiers and (probably) Johanna Dieremans. Studies at Leiden. In 1631 left for the east, visited Batavia (Jakarta) and Surat. Worked in 1631-47 as minister of Dutch congregations in India and…
ROBERTS, Sydney Gordon. 18?? — 19??. British Civil Servant in South India. In 1899 already there, 1915-18 District and Sessions Judge in Cuddalore, then retired. Back in the U.K. he was Lecturer in Tamil and Telugu at Oxford (1924). He collected Tamil proverbs, assisted the preparation of Tamil Lexicon, and…
RICE, Benjamin Holt. 28.5.1814 — Bangalore ?.2.1887. Rev. British Missionary in South India, a Kannada Scholar. Son of wool merchant Simon Peter Rice. Worked in the family business, but soon became interested in religion. In 1834-36 studied at Homerton College in Hackney (London). Married and came to India with his…
RHYS DAVIDS, Thomas William. Colchester, Essex 12.5.1843 — Chipstead, Surrey 27.12.1922. British Indologist, Pāli and Buddhist Scholar. Professor in Manchester, Founder and President of the Pāli Text Society. Married with —> C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1858–1942). Son of Rev. Thomas William Davids (1816–1881), a minister and ecclesiastic historian of…
RHENIUS, Karl Theophilus Ewald (Charles Theophilus/Gottlieb E. Rh.). Graudenz, West Prussia (now Grudziądz in Poland) 5.11.1790 — Tirunelvēli/Palayamkottai 5.6.1838. German Missionary and Tamil Scholar in South India. Son of Otto Gottlieb Nikolaus Rhenius (1758–1796), a Prussian army officer, and Catharina Dorothea Schiemann (1765–1828). Father died when he was six. Educated…
REES, John David. London 16.12.1854 — London 2.6.1922. First Baronet (1919). British Civil Servant in India. Son of Lodwich William Rees (1816–1885) and Ann Jones. “Educated at Cheltenham. Entered the Madras Civil Service, 1875. Private Secretary to three successive Governors…; Government Translator in Tamil, Telugu, Persian and Hindustani. British Resident…
RASK, Rasmus Kristian (bapt. Rasmus Christian Rasch). Brændekilde near Odense 22.11.1787 — Copenhagen 14.11.1832. Danish Linguist and Traveller, also interested in Sanskrit and Old Iranian. Professor in Copenhagen. Son of Niels Hansen Rasch (1749–1810), a smallholder and tailor, and Birthe Rasmusdatter (d. 1801). Educated at home and in Odense, became…