WULFF, Kurt. Hellerup 4.9.1881 — Copenhagen 4.5.1939. Danish Linguist (Indologist, South-East and East Asian Scholar and Sinologist). Librarian in Copenhagen. Son of Peter Wulff (1841–1898), a cigar manufacturer, and Emma Heydorn (1846–1926), a Holsteinian (German, but politically on Danish side) family. Matriculated in 1900, studied classics at Copenhagen, also linguistics…
WÜST, Walther. Kaiserslautern 7.5.1901 — Munich 21.3.1993. German Indologist and IE Linguist. Professor in Munich. Son of a teacher. From 1920 studies of German, French and Indology at Munich. Ph.D. 1923 Munich. PD 1926 Munich. From 1932 ao. Professor and from 1935 ord. (Oertel’s successor, now for “Arische Kultur- und…
WOOD, Francis Asbury. Point Bluff, Wis. 17.1.1859 — La Jolla, Calif. 19.6.1948. U.S. IE and Germanic Linguist. Professor in Chicago. Son of Rev. Harvey Colcord Wood and Ann Jane Ellis. Educated at Northwestern University (A.B. 1880, A.M. 1883). In 1988-90 further studies at Göttingen in Germany. In 1890-93 Professor of…
WOLFENDEN, Stuart N. 1889 — 28.12.1938 (when 47). U.S. Tibeto-Burman Linguist. At University of California, Berkeley. Wolfenden was one of the pioneers of comparative Tibeto-Burman linguistics. Publications: Outlines of Tibeto-Burman Linguistic Morphology with special reference to the prefixes, infixes and suffixes of classical Tibetan and the languages of the Kachin, Bodo,…
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.…