SMYTH, Herbert Weir. Wilmington, DE 8.8.1857 — Bar Harbor, ME 16.7.1937. U.S. Classical (Greek) Scholar also interested in Indology. Son of Clement Biddle Smyth, an iron manufacturer, and Sarah Ann Sellers. Educated at Swarthmore (A.B. 1876) and Harvard (A.B. 1878) Further studies in Germany: 1879-81 Leipzig, 1881-83 Göttingen. Ph.D. 1884…
SMITH, Helmer. Boo, Stockholms län 26.4.1882 — 9.1.1956. Swedish Indologist. Professor in Uppsala. Son of an engineer, Henning Smith (of distant British origin), and Fanny Sehlstedt (d. 1929). Matriculated from Stockholm in 1900. Studies at Uppsala: fil.kand. 1904, fil.lic. 1908. In 1909-20 further studies in Berlin, Paris (Bloch) and especially…
SIEGFRIED, Rudolf Thomas. Dessau 1830 — Dublin 10.1.1863. German IE and Celtic Scholar in Ireland. Professor in Dublin. From Dessau. Studied 1850-51 at Tübingen under Roth, then at Berlin under Bopp and Weber, became soon interested in Celtology and went to England to write a comparative grammar. After reading the work…
SHAFER, Robert Lloyd (Schafer). 1893 — 1969. U.S. Linguist and Sino-Tibetan scholar. Ph.D. Director of Sino-Tibetan Linguistic Project at U.C. Berkeley. Famous, but rather much criticised for his brave hypotheses. Publications: “Nahālī, a linguistic study in paleoethnography”, HJAS 5, 1940, 346-371; “Linguistics in History”, JAOS 67, 1947, 296-305; other articles.…
SCHIEFNER, Franz Anton von (Anton Antonovič Šifner). Reval (Tallinn) 6.(18.)7.1817 — St. Petersburg 4.(16.)11.1879. Russian (German of Estonia) Indologist and Tibetan Scholar. Academician in St.Petersburg. Son of Franz Schiefner (1774–1848), a glass merchant who had moved to Estonia from Bohemia, and Christiane Schneider. After school in Reval began in 1836 studies of…
SCHEFTELOWITZ, Isidor Isaac. Sandersleben/Anhalt 1.5.1875 — Oxford 17/18.12. 1934. German (Jewish) Indo-Iranian Scholar. Professor and Rabbi in Köln. Son of Benjamin Sch. (1848–1918, a rabbi and teacher) and Jenny Epstein. After school in Königsberg worked in trade, from 1897 studies at Königsberg and Berlin. Ph.D. 1901 Königsberg (under Bezzenberger). Rabbinical…
SCERBO, Francesco. Marcellinara (Catanzaro, Calabria) 7.10.1849 — 13.10.Rome 1927. Italian Linguist and Oriental (Hebrew & Sanskrit) Scholar. Professor in Florence. Of modest origin, son of Giacinto Pietro Scerbo and Maria Riglione. From 1863 studies at seminary of Nicastro. Ordained priest 1873. Continued his studies at Florence concentrating on Semitics, but…
SAUSSURE, Ferdinand de. Geneva 26.9.1857 — Vufflens-le-Château, Vaud 22.2.1913. Swiss Linguist. Professor in Geneva. Son of Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure (1829–1905), a zoologist, and Louise de Pourtalès, the family was originally of Lorraine nobility, settled in Switzerland in the 16th century. His brother was Sinologist Léopold de Saussure (1866–1925).…
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 W. 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…
WINDISCH, Ernst Wilhelm Oskar. Dresden 4.9.1844 (or 14.9.?) — 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). Ph.D. 1867 Leipzig.…