Heinrich Lüders (25 June 1869 in Lübeck – 7 May 1943 in Badenweiler) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Orientalist and

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

known for his epigraphical analysis of the

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 ...

Turfan fragmentary manuscripts.

Biography

From 1888 to 1894, he studied at the universities of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, and afterwards worked as an assistant curator and librarian in the Indian Institute at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In 1898, he became an associate professor at Göttingen, then five years later relocated to

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

, where in 1905 he was named professor of

Indo-European linguistics Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...

and

. In 1909, he was appointed professor of ancient Indian languages and literature at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where in 1931–32 he served as

academic rector A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

. In 1935, he retired from teaching and devoted himself entirely to research.Lüders, Heinrich
Catalogus Professorum RostochiensiumHeinrich Lüders
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin From 1920 to 1938, he served as secretary of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In 1932 he was recipient of the '' Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft'' (Goethe Medal for Art and Science). He was also appointed to the "Königlich Preußische Phonographische Kommission" (Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission) for his expertise in the languages

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 ...

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

, and Gurung. The purpose of the commission was to record the approximately 250 languages spoken by the prisoners of German WWI PoW camps.

Published works

* ''Bruchstücke buddhistischer Dramen'', 1911. * ''Weitere Beiträge zur Geschichte und Geographie von Ostturkestan''. Berlin 1930. * ''Kātantra und Kaumāralāta''. Berlin 1930. * ''Philologica Indica'', 1940.Most widely held works by Heinrich Lüders
WorldCat Identities * ''Bhārhut und die buddhistische Literatur''. Leipzig 1941. * ''Beobachtungen über die Sprache des buddhistischen Urkanons''. (edition by Ernst Waldschmidt. Berlin 1954). * "Mathurā Inscriptions. Unpublished papers" (edition by Klaus Ludwig Janert. Göttingen 1961). * ''Kleine Schriften''. (edition by

Oskar von Hinüber Oskar von Hinüber (born 18 February 1939 in Hanover) is a German Indologist. He joined the German Navy after leaving high school, and holds the rank of Commander as a reservist. From 1960 to 1966 he studied at University of Tübingen, University ...

. Wiesbaden 1973).

References

Bibliography

* * Ernst Waldschmidt (1943). Heinrich Lüders. In: Forschungen und Fortschritte. Nachrichtenblatt der Deutschen Wissenschaft und Technik, Organ des Reichsforschungsrates 19 (23/24), 250–252 1869 births 1943 deaths German scholars of Buddhism German Indologists German male non-fiction writers Epigraphers Writers from Lübeck University of Rostock faculty Humboldt University of Berlin faculty University of Göttingen faculty Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) {{germany-academic-bio-stub