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 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,…
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). Ph.D.…
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…
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…
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, Josiah Dwight Whitney (1786–1869), and Sarah Williston (1800–1833). Educated in 1842-45 at Williams College (B.A. 1845). In 1845-49 he…