WYATT, Joseph Light. Bishopsworth near Bristol 31.3.1841 — Brandon, Suffolk 22.2.1936. Rev. British Missionary and Tamil Scholar in India. Son-in-law of —> R. Caldwell. Born into a large farming family, son of Joseph Wyatt (1813–1867) and Martha Light. Trained as missionary at St.Augustin’s College in Canterbury. Worked in South India…
WINSLOW, Miron. Williston, County Chittenden, Vermont 11.12.1789 — Cape Town 22.10.1864. Rev. U.S. Missionary and Tamil Lexicographer in South Asia, where he remained in 1819-64. Son of Nathaniel Winslow (1761–1831) and Anna Kellogg (1766–1810). From the age of 14 worked as store clerk, but then turned to religion. Graduated from…
WALTHER, Christoph Theodosius (Ñānavālutār). Schildberg in Neumark, Pomerania (now Golenice in Poland) 20.12.1699 — Dresden 29.4.1741. German Priest, 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…
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…