Heinrich Wenzel (7 June 1855, in
Mainz – 16 June 1893, in
London) was a German
Indologist and
Tibetologist.
He studied at the universities of
Jena,
Leipzig and
Tübingen, receiving his doctorate at the latter institution with a thesis on the
instrumental case
In grammar, the instrumental case (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the ''instrument'' or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or an ...
involving the
Rigveda (1879). By way of a recommendation from
Ludwig Noiré
Ludwig Noiré (26 March 1829 – 27 March 1889) was a German philosopher, known for his studies involving the philosophy of language. He was born in Alzey.
He received his education at the University of Giessen, and later relocated to Mainz ...
, he continued his
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...
in
Oxford under
Max Müller. While here, he focused his attention on the then little-known
Tibetan language and
literature. From 1881 he spent the next two years in
Herrnhut
Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722.
Geography
It is ...
, where he studied Tibetology with
Moravian missionary Heinrich August Jäschke. In 1883 Wenzel published the second edition of Jäschke's "Tibetan grammar".
[ADB:Wenzel, Heinrich]
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...
(ADB). Band 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, S. 736–738.
In 1886, he obtained his
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
at Leipzig with a translation of
Nāgārjuna's "Suhṛllekha". Later on, he returned to England, initially residing in
Oxford, eventually settling in
London. Among his writings were translations of works by Russian scholars. He reportedly was fluent in a dozen different languages.
Selected works
* ''Über den Instrumentalis im Rigveda''. Tübingen 1879.
"Tibetan grammar"
by H. A. Jäschke, Moravian missionary. 2nd edition prepared by Dr. Heinrich Wenzel, London 1883.
* "Buddhist technical terms : an ancient Buddhist text ascribed to Nāgārjuna"; edited by F. Max Müller and H. Wenzel, 1885.
* "The Dharma-samgraha : an ancient collection of Buddhist technical terms"; edited by F. Max Muller, H. Wenzel, 1885.
* ''Suhrillekha. Brief des Nāgārjuna an König Udayana''; translation by Heinrich Wenzel. Leipzig 1886.
* "List of the Tibetan mss. and printed books in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society". JRAS 1892, S. 570—579.
* "The Buddhist sources of the (Old Slavonic) legend of the Twelve Dreams of Shahaïsh", Dr. Sergey Oldenburg, translated by Heinrich Wenzel, JRAS 1893, S. 509—516.[WorldCat Identities]
published works
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenzel, Heinrich
1855 births
1893 deaths
Writers from Mainz
Leipzig University alumni
University of Jena alumni
University of Tübingen alumni
German orientalists
German Indologists
Tibetologists