WRIGHT, Joseph. Idle near Bradford, Yorkshire 31.10.1855 — Oxford 27.2.1930. British Linguist. Son of Dufton Wright (d. 1866), a woollen cloth weaver and quarryman, and Sarah Ann Atkinson, a modest family. Working from childhood in various odd jobs he started night-school when 15, concentrating on languages, and in 1876 went…
THOMAS, Calvin E. near Lapeer, Mich. 28.10.1854 — New York City 4.11.1919. U.S. Linguist and Germanist. Son of farmer Stephen Van Rensselaer Thomas (1831–1905, later lawyer and politician) and Caroline Louisa Lord (1831–1878). Graduated A.B. 1874, A.M. 1877, LL.D. 1904 – all at University of Michigan, 1877-78 further studies at…
TELEGDI, Zsigmond (born Weil). Enyig, county Veszprém 29.12.1909 — Budapest 5.3.1994. Hungarian Linguist. Son of solicitor Ede Weil (d. 1913) and Elza Erzsébet, lost early his father. Grew up in Székesfehérvár and attended Jewish secondary school there 1919-27. Briefly studied at Rabbinical seminary in Budapest, but interrupted and studied Semitic and…
SCHMIDT, Heinrich Wilhelm Arnold. Hörde near Dortmund 16.2.1868 — Fribourg 10.2.1954. Father, S.V.D (Society of the Divine Word). Famous German Anthropologist and Linguist in Austria and Switzerland. Austrian citizen 1902. Son of Heinrich Schmidt (1819–1870), an ironworker, and Anna-Maria Mörs. From 1883 educated by S.V.D. in the Netherlands, in 1890…
SCHELLER, Meinrad. Zürich 17.5.1921 — 24.4.1991. Swiss Sanskrit and IE Scholar. Professor in Zürich. Grew up in Zürich. Studies from 1940 at Zürich under M. Leumann, Pokorny and Risch, also in Paris. Ph.D. 1948 (under Leumann). Further studies 1949-51 in Paris, some time also at Prague. In 1951-54 worked for…
RECZEK, Józef. Szczepanów, Lesser Poland 16.2.1936 — Ibid. 13.2.1988. Polish Indo-European, Slavonic and Iranian Linguist. Son of Alojzy Reczek and Anna Kargol. Studies at Cracow in 1953-59 (i.al. under Kuryłowicz, Pobożniak and T. Milewski). From 1958 one of the editors of Słownik staropolski. Ph.D. 1967 (diss. on Slavonic), from 1972 taught linguistics at…
QUIN, Ernest Gordon (Earnán Ó Cuinn). Dublin 9.6.1910 — 29.8.1986. Irish Linguist also familiar with Sanskrit. Son of Ernest Samuel Quin, From 1934 Lecturer in Sanskrit at Trinity College, Dublin, finally 1975-77 Senior Dean there. Probably taught Irish, too. Publications: Wrote on Old Irish language and lexicography, e.g. Old-Irish Workbook.…
PHILIPPI, Friedrich Wilhelm Martin (Fritz). Dorpat (Tartu) 3.11.1843 — Rostock 6.3.1905. German (born in Estonia) Semitic Scholar. Professor in Rostock. Son of Friedrich Adolf Philippi (1809–1882), who was later Professor of Theology at Rostock, and Jeannette Pincson, the family was from Germany and only lived in Estonia in 1840-51. After…
PERRIN, Marshall Livingston. Wellesley Hills (now Frantville) county Norfolk, Mass. 31.7.1855 — Obod. 2.12.1935. U.S. Linguist. Professor in Boston. Son of Noah Perrin (1810–1894) and Philenia Winship Stone. Educated at Harvard (A.B. 1874, A.M. 1876), post-graduate studies 1877-80 at Harvard, 1883-88 in Germany, mostly at Göttingen, where Ph.D. 1889. In…
PENZL, Herbert. Neufelden, Oberösterreich 2.9.1910 — Oakland 1.9.1995. Austrian Linguist in the U.S.A., naturalised 1944. Professor in Berkeley. Born into an academic family. After gymnasium in Ottakring (Vienna) studied English philology at Vienna. With a scholarship (recommended by S. Freud) went to the U.S.A. and was in 1932-34 Editorial Assistant…