Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 1990 Universiteit Utrecht) and from 1932 held positions at Utrecht and Leiden. He held the positions of Chair of Sanskrit succeeding Caland from 1929, as well as of Indology from 1932. He published scholarly articles on Indian Sanskrit and Indonesian Javanese texts for sixty years. In 1952, he published his monumental work on ''Sanskrit in Indonesia''. His contributions to philology and Vedic literature has been oft-cited. Gonda is recognized as one of the twentieth century's leading scholars of Asian language, literature and religion, particularly on texts and topics related to Hinduism and Buddhism. He wrote with ease and elegance in Dutch, English and German, and had a breath-taking range of interests from the ancient literature of Indonesia and India to comparative religion and philology. Like many Orientalists of the 20th century, Gonda never visited Asia although some of his publications appeared under the auspices of the "Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen", e.g. his comparative study on the Kavi-edition of the "Bhīşmaparwa", printed in Bandung (Java), 1937. However, his lack of field experience was more than compensated for by his encyclopedic knowledge of Indic literature and his profound empathy for the religious culture of Asia. Among his many students was J. A. B. van Buitenen who moved to the University of Chicago in 1961, and

Henk Bodewitz Hendrik Wilhelm "Henk" Bodewitz (born 13 October 1939) is a Dutch Sanskrit scholar. He was a professor at the Universities of Utrecht and later Leiden between 1976 and 2002. Career Bodewitz was born in Gramsbergen on 13 October 1939. Between 1952 ...

succeeded Gonda to the chair of Sanskrit at Utrecht in 1976.A. Griffiths and Jan E. N. Houben, 'H.W.Bodewitz: Bibliography 1969-2004,' ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' 47 (2004): 121-31. Gonda left a bequest to

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

, of which he was member since 1957, and in 1992 the Gonda Foundation was set up in his name. The foundation offers publication subsidies and grants to projects relating to Indology, the size of the grants and scope of activities being determined by the return on invested capital. The Gonda Lectures and Gonda Indological Series are also named in his honour.

Publications

Gonda produced a substantial number of books and articles during his long career. The most useful starting point is Jan Gonda, ''Selected Studies'', 6 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975-1991). These volumes contain most of his key articles.

References

External links

The Gonda Fund
at the

website
The Gonda Lectures
at the

website
Gonda Indological Series
at the Brill website *Gonda entry at the
Dutch Studies on South Asia, Tibet and Classical Southeast Asia
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonda, Jan Dutch Indologists 1905 births 1991 deaths Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Utrecht University alumni People from Gouda, South Holland University of Chicago faculty