WRIGHT, Joseph. Idle near Bradford, Yorkshire 31.10.1855 — Oxford 27.2.1930. British Linguist. Son of Dufton Wright (d. 1866), a woollen cloth weaver and quarryman, and Sarah Ann Atkinson, a modest family. Working from childhood in various odd jobs he started night-school when 15 (only now learned to read properly), soon…
WRIGHT, Henry Nelson. Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh 29.10.1869 — England 13.5.1941. British Civil Servant and Numismatist In India, concentrating on Muslim coins. Son of Francis Nelson Wright (1840–1900) of I.C.S. and Amelia Hannah Barness (1842?–1885?), educated at Eton. Studied two years classics at Oxford (Corpus Christi College). In 1890 sailed to…
WLISLOCKI, Heinrich Adalbert von. Kronstadt (now Braşov) 9.7.1856 — Klosdorf bei Kleinkopisch (now Şona in Translivania) 19.2.1907. Austrian Gypsy Scholar. His father was Polish-Austrian tax collector and mother a German (Saxon) of Transylvania, gymnasium in Kronstadt. In 1875-79 studied at Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca), mainly Germanic, but also Sanskrit (Brassai). He proceeded…
WILMOT, Claude Rupert Trench. Stoke Newington, London 10.11.1897 — Cirencester, Gloucestershire 27.7.1961. British Colonial Officer in North-West India. Son of Claude Ernest Willington Wilmot (1868–1935), a physician, and Gertrude Isabelle Bate. Served in the WW I in Sherwood Foresters, then served in Egypt, Turkey and India, in the Punjab and…
WILLIAMS, Robert Hamilton Blair. Buckland, East Tilbury, Essex 21.8.1915 — 1975 (place and date not known). British Indologist. At S.O.A.S. in London. Son of Hamilton Blair Lee Williams. Graduated B.A. 1937 from S.O.A.S. in Indo-Aryan (under Turner). Assistant Keeper in India Office Library (Sanskrit, Pāli and Prākrit books) in 1939-46…
WHITEHEAD, Henry Alfred. Brighton, Sussex 19.12.1853 — Reading, Berkshire 14.4.1947, when 93. British Anglican Missionary in India. Son of Rev. Alfred Whitehead (1827–1898) and Maria Sarah Buckmaster, brother of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947). Educated at Sherborne and Trinity College, Oxford. Ordained 1879, left in 1884 to India. Worked as principal…
WESTPHAL-HELLBUSCH, Sigrid Erna Anna. Rendsburg 10.6.1915 — Oldenburg 1.2.1984. German Anthropologist. Professor in Berlin. Daughter of engineer (DI) Erwin Ludwig Hellbusch and Erna Martha Anna Philippi, school in Berlin. From 1935 studied Anthropology, Geography and Psychology at Berlin. Ph.D. 1940. Then worked at Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde 1940-45. PD 1946 Berlin…
WESSELSKI, Albert. Vienna 3.9.1871 — Prague 2.2.1939. Austrian Journalist and Folklorist in Czechoslovakia. Son of gymnasium professor Franz Wesselski (d. 1875) and Franziska Reinkenhof. Roman Catholic. Gymnasium in Vienna, then studied there history of literature, but soon switched to engineering. Engineer 1897 Technische Hochschule Wien. In 1902-06 worked in Landesbauamt…
WEÖRES, Sándor. Szombathely near Austrian border 22.6.1913 — 22.1.1989. Hungarian Poet and Translator. Son of the elder S. Weöres and Mária Blaskovich. Published his first poems as a teenager. Studies of law, soon of geography and history at Pécs University, Ph.D. in aesthetics. In 1937 visited Philippines, Vietnam and India.…
WENDEL, François-Xavier. 1732? — Lakhnau 20.3.1803. Father. German Jesuit Missionary in India. Very little is known of his life. He arrived in India in 1751. First in Goa and Diu, from 1763 in Lakhnau, later also in Agra, but often ill. For a while he served the Rāja of Bhāratpur.…