WOOD, Francis Asbury. Point Bluff (or Springville), 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 (1817–1910) and Ann Jane Ellis. Educated at Northwestern University (A.B. 1880, A.M. 1883). In 1988-90 further studies at Göttingen in Germany. In…
WOLFENDEN, Stuart Norris. London 1889 — Berkeley, Calif. 28.12.1938 (when 47). British Tibeto-Burman Linguist in the U.S.A. Son of physician Richard Norris Wolfenden and Jessie Stuart Jardine, born with somewhat crippled hip. Parents separated in practice 1892 (formally 1902) because of mother’s alcoholism, grew up with his father in Pangbourne,…
WINDISCH, Ernst Wilhelm Oskar. Dresden 4.9.1844 (or 14.9.?) — Leipzig (or Dresden?) 30.10.1918. German Indologist and Celtic Scholar. Professor in Leipzig. Son of a schoolteacher, Louis W. Windisch and Caroline Lamm.After Kreuzschule in Leipzig studiedfrom 1863 at Leipzig classics (under Ritschl), Germanic (Zarncke), Sanskrit (Brockhaus) and Comparative Linguistics (Curtius). As…
WINDEKENS, Albert Joris van. Mountain-Ash, Wales 23.4.1915 — Leuven 28.3.1989. Belgian Linguist. Professor in Louvain. Born during WW I in the U.K., after war the family returned to Belgium. Studies under Carnoy at Louvain (Leuven), then under Filliozat in Paris. Dr. en philologie classique 1939, Dr. en philol. & histoire…
WIMMER, Ludvig Frands Adalbert. Ringkøbing on Jutland west coast 7.2.1839 — Copenhagen 29.4.1920. Danish Linguist. Son of Adalbert Ernst Wimmer (1805–1882), 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. M.A. there…
WIEDEMANN, Oskar Johann. Jurburg, govt. Kaunas (now 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…
WHITNEY, William Dwight. Nothampton, Mass. 9.2.1827 (hardly 1828) — New Haven, Conn. 7/8.6.1894. U.S. Indologist. Professor in New Haven. Born in an old Yankee family as the son of a businessman and banker, Josiah Dwight Whitney (1786–1869), and Sarah Williston (1800–1833). Educated in 1842-45 at Williams College (B.A. 1845). In…
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.…
WESTERGAARD, Niels Ludvig. Copenhagen 27.10.1815 — Copenhagen 9.9.1878. Danish Indologist and Iranian Scholar. Professor in Copenhagen. Son of a master carpenter, Niels Nielsen Westergaard (1772–1835) and Sophie Magdalene Nyeborg (1785–1850). As a schoolboy he became interested, from the example of Rask, in comparative linguistics and Oriental languages. From 1833 studied…
WEISGERBER, Johann Leo. Metz 25.2.1899 — Bonn 8.8.1985. German (of Lorraine) Linguist and Celtologist. Son of a village teacher, Nikolaus Ludwig Weisgerber, and Maria Müller. The mother died when he was 5 and father when 14. Educated in Metz, Reifeprüfung 1917. Then participated in WW I in German army in…