Karl Penka (26 October 1847,

Mohelnice Mohelnice (; german: Müglitz) is a town in Šumperk District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrat ...

– 10 February 1912,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

philologist and anthropologist. Known for his now-outdated theories locating the

Proto-Indo-European homeland The Proto-Indo-European homeland (or Indo-European homeland) was the prehistoric linguistic homeland of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). From this region, its speakers migrated east and west, and went on to form the proto-communities o ...

in Northern Europe, Penka has been described as "a transitional figure between

Aryanism Aryanism is an ideology of racial supremacy which views the supposed Aryan race as a distinct and superior racial group which is entitled to rule the rest of humanity. Initially promoted by racist theorists such as Arthur de Gobineau and Houst ...

and

Nordicism Nordicism is an ideology of racism which views the historical race concept of the "Nordic race" as an endangered and superior racial group. Some notable and seminal Nordicist works include Madison Grant's book ''The Passing of the Great Race'' ...

Biography

Born in Müglitz,

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

(now

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

), Penka was between 1873 and 1906 a master at the ''Maximiliansgymnasium'', a high school for boys, 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 ...

. He studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

from the point of view of

comparative linguistics Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness ...

and took a particular interest in the origins of the Indo-Europeans. He used the term

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

in the

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

sense, and extended it into a broad term of race and culture. Penka popularised the theory that the

Aryan race The Aryan race is an obsolete historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people of Proto-Indo-European heritage as a racial grouping. The terminology derives from the historical usage of Aryan, used by modern I ...

had emerged in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

and could be identified by the Nordic characteristics of blue eyes and blond hair. In his 1883 book ''Origines Ariacae'' ('Origins of the Aryans'), he proposed that the Indo-European homeland was situated in the far north, corresponding to the

Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans ( grc, Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, ; la, Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of ...

of antiquity. Penka 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 ...

in 1912. He is now seen as a pioneer of racist and anti-Semitic theories in

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

.Von Karstedt, Lars (2004). ''Sprache und Kultur. Eine Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Ethnolinguistik'', p. 78f.

Selected works

*''Die Nominalflexion der indogermanischen Sprachen'' (Vienna, 1878) *''Origines Ariacae. Linguistisch-ethnologische Untersuchungen zur ältesten Geschichte der arischen Völker und Sprachen'' (Vienna, 1883) *''Die Herkunft der Arier. Neue Beiträge zur historischen Anthropologie der europäischen Völker'' (Vienna, 1886) *'Entstehung der arischen Rasse' in ''Das Ausland'' (1891), from p. 132 *''Neue Hypothesen über die Urheimat der Arier'' (Leipzig, 1906) *''O. Schraders Hypothese von der südrussischen Urheimat der Indogermanen'' (Leipzig, 1908, in series ''Beiträge zur Rassenkunde'', 6)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penka, Karl 1847 births 1912 deaths People from Mohelnice People from the Margraviate of Moravia Moravian-German people Anthropological linguists German anthropologists Germanic studies scholars Indo-Europeanists

Biography

Selected works

Further reading

References