Francis Johnson (c. 1795/96 – 29 January 1876) was a British linguist. He taught

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

at the

East India Company College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company ( ...

between 1824 and 1855. He compiled a comprehensive Persian, Arabic, and English dictionary, which he published in 1852 and which is the main thing he is remembered for. In 1829, Johnson published an expanded edition of John Richardson's Persian-Arabic-English dictionary, which was presented as the third edition of Richardson's dictionary (the second edition of Richardson's was in year 1810). The dictionary presented Persian and Arabic words and translated them to English. Johnson's 1852 edition was more comprehensive than any earlier edition in English. As a young man, he travelled to Rome and Athens with

Charles Lock Eastlake Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (17 November 1793 – 24 December 1865) was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as keeper, he was the first director of the National Gallery. Life Eastlake ...

and

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

and others, returning to England in 1824. A nonconformist, he funded the construction in 1829 of a Congregationalist chapel at

Hertford Heath Hertford Heath is a village and civil parish near the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,672. Geography It is located on a heath above the River Lea valley, on its south side. Almost all of ...

, and its subsequent operation. He also published * Johnson, Francis. ''Hitopadesa. The Sanskrit Text of the First Book, or Mitra-Labha; with a Grammatical Analysis, Alphabetically Arranged''. Prepared for the Use of the East-India College, by Francis Johnson, Professor. London: James Madden and Co. Successors to Parbury and Co., 8

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

, 1840.Bibliography for William Carey, D. D. (1761-1834
See notes
accessed 9 Oct 2007 He married in 1857 and died in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

in 1876. Biography of Francis Johnson i
''DNB'' Volume 30, page 11 (year 1892)

External links

Download Johnson's Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary, year 1852
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Francis Linguists from the United Kingdom British Sanskrit scholars 1790s births 1876 deaths Year of birth uncertain