OLDENBERG, Hermann. Hamburg 31.10.1854 — Göttingen 18.3.1920. German Indologist. Professor in Kiel and Göttingen. Son of Friedrich Oldenberg (1820–1894), a minister, and Eleonore Sieveking (d. 1854). Gymnasium in Berlin. Began his studies at Göttingen, soonat Berlin: classical philology and Indology (under Weber). Ph.D. 1875 Berlin. From 1878 PD at Berlin.…
OESTERLEY, Hermann. Göttingen 14.6.1833 — Breslau 2.2.1891. German Librarian and Scholar of Literature. Son of Ferdinand Oesterley (1802–1858), the mayor of Göttingen, and Mathilde Scharlach. Studies of philosophy and music at Göttingen, Ph.D. 1855 in Philosophy. In 1858-61 PD für theoretische Musik at Kiel. In 1862-72 worked at Göttingen University…
OERTEL, Hanns. Geithain, Sachsen 20.4.1868 — Munich 7.2.1952. German Indologist, for a while in the U.S.A. Professor in New Haven and Munich. Son of Colonel Philipp Julius Oe. (1821–86) and Evelyn Lassnitzer. Gymnasium in Plauen and Meissen. After father’s death in 1886 moved with the family to the U.S.A., where…
OELER, Jakob. 18?? — 19??. Swiss Student of IE Linguistics. From Balgach, St.Gallen, Switzerland. Ph.D. 1916 Marburg. Publications: Diss. Die Ausdrücke für die körperlichen Gebrechen in den indogermanischen Sprachen. Eine semasiologische Untersuchung. 93 p. Marburg 1916. Sources: Diss. in Janert; origin stated on title page of his diss.
ODORICO DA PORDENONE (Odorico Mattiuzzi). Villanova near Pordenone 1265/74/86 (probably around 1280) — Udine 14.1.1331. Italian Franciscan Friar and Traveller in Asia. From Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Wrote a famous account of his journey to China and Central Asia. Different legends are told of his origin and youth, apparently joined…
ODÉ, Arend Willem Mauritz. Schiedam 3.6.1887 — Delft 14.8.1951. Dutch IE Linguist. Son of bookseller Gerrit Odé (1835–1907) and Sophia Cornelia van der Pauwert (1844–1898), educated in Schiedam. From 1904 studies at Leiden, i.al. under Uhlenbeck. Ph.D. (?) 1912 Leiden (diss. on Celtic verbs). Further studies at Copenhagen (Pedersen). In…
OBRY, Jean-Baptiste-François. Villers-Bretonneux (Somme) 17.9.1793 — 1871. French Literate interested in Indology and Religions. Son of wool merchant Firmin Obry and Marie Floride Debrie. Worked as attorney and judge in Amiens. “Juge honoraire, membre de l’académie d’Amiens”. He was much interested in Hebrew and in the 1830s he invented a…
NURMEKUND, Pent (until 1936 Arthur Roosman). Kilingi near Pärnu 16.12.1906 — Tartu 26.12.1996. Estonian Linguist, Polyglot and Oriental Scholar, specialized in Chinese and Indian languages and literatures. Born in a poor family as the son of an agrarian worker, Peet Roosman, and Julie Rüütel, he could only proceed slowly with…
NUNES (Nuniz), Fernão. 1500? — 1550?. Portuguese Jewish Horse Trader in India. In 1535-37 stayed in Vijayanagar and then wrote an account, including a short history of the Vijayanagara Empire. The manuscript came to Portugal and was used by Barros, but then forgotten for many years. Later on he was…
NOWOTNY, Fausta (née Pedain). Hollabrunn, Niederösterreich 9.4.1903 — 1991. Austrian Indologist. Ph.D. 1942 Vienna (under Frauwallner). Married 1940 Karl Anton Nowotny (1904–1978), an Austrian ethnologist, mainly working on Amerindian cultures. In 1943-51 she was employed as Mitarbeiterin in Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna. In 1945 she was accused of Nazi…