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Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or ancient origins emphasizing Westernness to modern Greek identity and shared the commonly held view of his time that ancient Greece was culturally intertwined with the Orient, not merely a symbol of an isolated European civilzation.


Life

Born Joseph Hammer in Graz,
Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (german: Herzogtum Steiermark; sl, Vojvodina Štajerska; hu, Stájer Hercegség) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 180 ...
(now
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
), he received his early education mainly in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. Entering the diplomatic service in 1796, he was appointed in 1799 to a position in the Austrian embassy in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, and in this capacity he took part in the expedition under Admiral William Sidney Smith and General John Hely-Hutchinson against
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In 1807 he returned home from the East, after which he was made a
privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
lor. In 1824 he was knighted (Chevalier). For fifty years Hammer-Purgstall wrote prolifically on the most diverse subjects and published numerous texts and translations of
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 ...
,
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 ...
and Turkish authors. He was the first to publish a complete translation of the
divan A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...
of
Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...
into a western language. By traversing so large a field, he laid himself open to the criticism of specialists, and he was severely handled by
Heinrich Friedrich von Diez Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (2 September 1751 – 7 April 1817) was a German diplomat and orientalist. He was ennobled in 1789 by Frederick the Great for his diplomatic service as the Prussian chargé d'affaires to the Ottoman Empire. In his l ...
(1751–1817), who, in his ''Unfug und Betrug in der morgenländischen Litteratur, nebst vielen hundert Proben von der groben Unwissenheit des H. v. Hammer zu Wien in Sprachen und Wissenschaften'' (1815), devoted to him nearly 600 pages of abuse. He also came into friendly conflict on the subject of the origin of ''
The Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' with his younger English contemporary
Edward William Lane Edward William Lane (17 September 1801 – 10 August 1876) was a British orientalist, translator and lexicographer. He is known for his ''Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians'' and the '' Arabic-English Lexicon,'' as well as his translati ...
. Hammer-Purgstall supported the foundation of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and became the Academy's first president (1847–1849). The Austrian Oriental Society, founded in 1959 to foster cultural relations with the Near East, is formally named 'Österreichische Orient-Gesellschaft Hammer-Purgstall' in recognition of Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall's accomplishments. In 1847 he received a medal commissioned by a friend of his,
Ludwig August von Frankl Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...
. The reverse references some of his works in pictures. He died in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
on 23 November 1856.


Works

Hammer-Purgstall's principal work is his ''
Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches ''Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches'' (German: "History of the Ottoman Empire") is a work by the Austrian orientalist historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. It was written in 10 volumes between 1827 and 1835. The result of 30 years of work, it b ...
'' (10 vols., Pest, 1827–35; revised edition in 4 vols., 1834–6; reprinted 1840). Among his other works are: * "Ancient Alphabets & Hieroglyphic Characters Explained" (1806) * ''Geschichte der schönen Redekünste Persiens mit einer Blüthenlese aus zweyhundert persischen Dichtern'' (
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, 1818) * ''Morgenländisches Kleeblatt'' (Vienna, 1819) * ''Constantinopolis und der Bosporos'' (1822) * ''Sur les origines russes'' (
St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, 1825) * an English language translation (1834) of the first two volumes of
Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
's travelogue '' Seyahatname'' * ''The History of the Assassins'' trans. O. C. Wood (
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, 1835), an English language translation of ''Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen (
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
und
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
, 1818)'' * ''Geschichte der osmanischen Dichtkunst'' (1836) * ''Geschichte der Goldenen Horde in Kiptschak'' (1840)
''Geschichte der Ilchane, das ist der Mongolen in Persien''2 vols.
Darmstadt, 1842) * ''Geschichte der Chane der Krim'' (1856) * an unfinished ''Litteraturgeschichte der Araber'' (1850–1856) * a four-volume biography of Melchior Cardinal Khlesl titled ''Khlesls, des Cardinals Leben. Mit der Sammlung von Khlesls Briefen und anderen Urkunden'' (4 vols., 1847–1851). For a comprehensive list of his works see Constantin Schlottmann, ''Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall'', Zurich 1857. For a biographical account of Hammer's life, see Walter Höflechner, ''Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall 1774-1856: ein altösterreichisches Gelehrtenleben. Eine Annäherung'', Graz 2021.


Family

Hammer married Caroline von Henikstein (1797–1844), the daughter of
Austrian Jewish The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewis ...
financier Joseph von Henikstein in 1816. In 1835, upon inheriting the estates of the Countess Purgstall (née Jane Anne Cranstoun), the widow of his late friend Gottfried Wenzel von Purgstall, he acquired the title ''
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
'' and changed his family name to Hammer-Purgstall.Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall
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See also

*
Baphomet Baphomet is a deity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar. that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions. The name ''Baphomet'' appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights ...


References


Sources

* *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von 1774 births 1856 deaths Writers from Graz Barons of Austria Austrian explorers Austrian orientalists Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)