WISSMANN, Friedrich Wilhelm Hans. Berlin 27.2.1899 — Munich 21.12.1966. German IE Linguist. Son of bank clerk Otto Wissmann, gymnasium in Berlin. From 1917 military service, from 1919 studied under Schulze at Berlin. Ph.D. 1930, then worked as Assistant at Berlin. PD 1938 Berlin, in 1939 he moved to Halle, but had…
WINDEKENS, Albert Joris van. Mountain-Ash, Wales 23.4.1915 — Leuven 28.3.1989. Belgian Linguist. Professor in Louvain. Born in the U.K., after the war family returned to Belgium. Studies under Carnoy at Louvain, then under Filliozat in Paris. Dr. en philologie classique 1939, Dr. en philol. & histoire orientales 1941. From 1944…
WIMMER, Ludvig Frands Adalbert. Ringkøbing on Jutland west coast 7.2.1839 — Copenhagen 29.4.1920. Danish Linguist. Son of Adalbert Ernst Wimmer, a customs officer, and Karoline Henriette Petersen. Educated in Kolding and Ribe. Studied at Copenhagen Germanics, classics, comparative linguistics and Sanskrit (under Westergaard), even Arabic and Hebrew. Ph.D. there 1868.…
WIJK, Nicolaas van. Delden, Overijssel 4.10.1880 — Leiden 25.3.1941. Dutch Slavic, German and IE Linguist. Son of Aart Willem van Wijk, a minister, and Bregitta Bruijn. Educated at Zwolle gymnasium. In 1898-1901 studied Dutch at Amsterdam, also learned Sanskrit and Gothic from Uhlenbeck. Ph.D. 1902 in IE linguistics. Then further…
WIEDEMANN, Oskar Johann. Jurburg, govt. Kaunas (Jurbarke, Lithuania) 3.12.1860 — Leipzig 9.12.1918. German (Baltic) Linguist. In 1879-83 studies of comparative linguistics under L. Meyer at Dorpat (Tartu), then further studies in Germany. Mag. 1886 Dorpat. Ph.D. 1889 Dorpat. PD 1887 Dorpat, quitted in 1890 because of Russification of the university and…
WHATMOUGH, Joshua. Rochdale, Lancashire 30.6.1897 — Winchester, MA 25.4.1964. British IE Linguist in the U.S.A. (citizen 1942). Professor in Cambridge, Mass. Son of Walter Whatmough, an iron-molder and woolweaver, and Elizabeth Hollows. Studied at Manchester (B.A. 1916, and, after war service, M.A. 1921) and Cambridge (Emmanuel College, B.A. 1921, M.A.…
WEISGERBER, Johann Leo. Metz 25.2.1899 — Bonn 8.8.1985. German (of Lorraine) Linguist and Celtologist. Son of a village teacher, Nikolaus Ludwig W., and Maria Müller (died when he was 5), educated in Metz, Reifeprüfung 1917. Then participated in WW I in German army in Flanders, after war studies from 1918…
WEIDERT, Alfons Klaus. 21.3.1943 — Bangkok 24.7.1988. German Tibeto-Burman Linguist. Ph.D. 1971 Heidelberg. PD 1982 Kiel. In 1981-84 Chief-Supervisor of the German-Nepalese field-project Linguistic Survey of Nepal. Collected material through field study among more than 40 Tibeto-Burman languages. But he was hard on his informants and lost his research position…
WALDE, Alois. Innsbruck 30.11.1869 — Innsbruck (N.D.B., but Wikipedia & Prabook say Königsberg) 3.10.1924. Austrian IE and Classical Scholar. Son of merchant Ludwig Walde and Anna Filz, educated in Innsbruck. In 1888-92 studies of Classics and IE at Innsbruck, 1893-94 at Leipzig (Brugmann & Leskien), Ph.D. Innsbruck 1894 (under Stolz). PD…
WACKERNAGEL, Jacob (Jakob). Basel 11.12.1853 — Basel 22.5.1938. Swiss IE Linguist, Greek and Sanskrit Scholar. Professor in Göttingen and Basel. Son of Wilhelm W. (1806–1868), a Germanist and poet, and Maria Salome Sarasin (1816–1894), brother of the Germanist Rudolf W. (1855–1928). Godson of Jacob Grimm. Studies of Greek at Basel,…