Jonas (Jean) Otter (

Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish language, Danish ''Christianstad'') is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has ...

, Sweden, October 1707 –

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, September 1748) was a Swedish traveler in the Ottoman and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Empires, known for his book ''Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, avec une Relation des Expeditions de Tahmas-Kouli-Khan'' (1748),Paris
/ref> based on his ten years in the Middle East. Otter studied languages, physics, and theology at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Andreas Rydelius, the Lutheran bishop of Lund, but interrupted his studies and left for

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. In 1728, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and left for

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, where he studied at the seminary until 1731, and learned English, Spanish, and Italian. He then left for Paris and worked at the Post Office. In January 1734, the Count of Maurepas sent him to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, where he stayed with the French Minister,

Villeneuve Villeneuve, LaVilleneuve or deVilleneuve may refer to: People * Villeneuve (surname) Places Australia * Villeneuve, Queensland, a town in the Somerset Region Canada * Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a Formula One racetrack in Montréal * Villeneuv ...

, to study

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. He also became acquainted with the Ottoman official and publisher

Ibrahim Muteferrika Ibrahim Müteferrika ( tr, İbrahim Müteferrika; 1674–1745 CE) was a Hungarian-born Ottoman diplomat, publisher, economist, historian, Islamic theologian, sociologist, and the first Muslim to run a printing press with movable Arabic type ...

and the Ottoman governor of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, Ahmad Pasha. Starting in 1736, he traveled to Persia, notably

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

and

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, and he was named French Consul at Basra in 1742. By the time he returned to Paris in 1744, he was very knowledgeable about Arabic,

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 ...

, and Turkish, and he worked as a translator at the

Bibliothèque du roi A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, translating many historical manuscripts in those languages. In 1746, he was named Professor of Arabic Language at the Collège Royal and in 1748, was elected a member of the Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. In 1748, his book ''Voyage en Turquie et en Perse'' was published in Paris; it was later translated into German. It reported on Isfahan, Baghdad,

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, and Basra. He died in 1748.

Bibliography

* Bahram Sohrabi, "Early Swedish Travelers to Persia", ''Iranian Studies'' 38:4:631-660 (December 2005), , p. 639-642

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otter, Jonas 1707 births 1748 deaths 18th-century French diplomats 18th-century French writers 18th-century Swedish writers Arabists Iranologists Turkologists Orientalists from the Ottoman Empire Swedish orientalists People from Kristianstad Municipality People connected to Lund University Swedish Roman Catholics