POTEBNJA, Oleksandr Opanasovyč (Russian Aleksandr Afanasevič). Maniv near Havrylivka (Gavrilovka), dt. Poltava 10/22.9.1835 — Harkiv 29.11./11.12.1891. Ukrainian Linguist. Born in a noble family. After school in Radom (now in Poland) studied from 1851 at Harkov (Harkiv) law, history and philology (graduated 1856) and then Slavistics (grad. 1860), i.al. under Ovsjaniko-Kulikovskij.…
PORZIG, Walter. Ronneburg/Thüringen 30.3.1895 — Mainz 14.10.1961. German IE Scholar. Professor in Bern, Jena and Mainz. Son of judge Max Porzig (1865–1910) and Hedwig Brauer. After school in Jena and Leipzig studied in 1913-14 at Jena and Leipzig (under Windisch et al.) and again, after military service, in 1919-21, now…
PORZEZIŃSKI, Wiktor Jan (Russian Viktor Karlovič Poržezinskij). Moršansk (or Temnikovo), Russia 23.7.(4.8.)1870 — Warsaw 12.4.1929. Polish Baltic and IE Linguist. Born in a Roman Catholic noble family, son of Karel P., educated in Moscow. From 1892 studies at Moscow under Fortunatov. Dr. 1903. From 1895 or 1901 taught as PD…
POPPE, Nicholas N. (Nikolaj Nikolaevič, Nikolaus). Chefoo (Chih-fu, now Yantai in Shandong), China 27.6.(8.8.)1897 — Seattle 8.6.1991. Russian Mongolian and Altaic Scholar in the U.S.A. Son of Nikolaj Poppe, a diplomat, of a St. Petersburg family of German origin. Came to Russia in 1904, educated in St. Petersburg. Matriculated in 1916,…
POPOV, Aleksandr Vasil’evič. Druželjubovka village, Kupjansk dt., Harkiv govt. 16.11.1855 — 26.9.1880. Ukrainian Indologist. Son of a priest, educated at Kupjansk Spiritual Seminary in 1871-75. Studied Sanskrit and comparative linguistics under V. Scherzl at Harkiv, graduated in 1879. His both dissertations about Sanskrit and IE syntax were deemed remarkable and…
POKORNY, Aron Julius. Prague 12.6.1887 — Zürich 8.4.1970. Austrian (Bohemian) IE and Celtic Scholar in Swizerland. Professor in Berlin and Zürich. Son of Samuel Christian Pokorny (1855–1943) and Margarete Riegner (thus Schmitt, German Wikipedia Anton Pokorny and his wife Rosalia). Educated in Prague and in Kremsmünster in Austria. Studies of law…
POBOŻNIAK, Tadeusz. Cracow 1910 — 26.1.1991 (when 80). Polish Indologist and Gipsy Scholar. Professor in Cracow. Born in a poor family, his father served in City Council guard.Educated in Cracow. Studied at Cracow IE (under Rozwadowski) and Germanic, then also Sanskrit under Willman-Grabowska. M.A. 1938 with a diss. on conjunctive…
PLATTS, John Thompson. Calcutta 1.8.1830 — London 21.9.1904. British Indologist (Hindī Scholar) in India. Son of Robert Platts and Elizabeth Kennaway (1802–1862). Lost early his father and grew in modest circumstances (but both geni.com and ancestry.com give his father the years 1795–1855), educated at Bedford School in London. Returned to…
PISCHEL, Richard. Breslau 18.1.1849 — Madras 26.12.1908. German Indologist. Professor in Kiel, Halle and Berlin. Son of Ernst Gottfried Pischel, a manufacturer of surgical instruments, and Emilie Haertel (d. 1857). After school in Breslau studied Sanskrit (under Stenzler) and classical philology at Breslau. Ph.D. 1870 Breslau. After war service further…
PISANI, Vittore. Rome 23.2.1899 — Como 22.12.1990. Italian IE and Classical Scholar, also much interested in Sanskrit. Professor in Milano. From 1916 studied in Rome, but in 1917-18 participated in the WW I. Ph.D. 1921 Rome (diss. on the Helena of Euripides). From 1930 PD (libero docente) at Università di…