Lionel David Barnett CB FBA (21 October 1871 – 28 January 1960) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

orientalist. The son of a

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

banker, Barnett was educated at

Liverpool High School Liverpool High School (LHS) is a comprehensive New York public high school located on Wetzel Road in Liverpool, northwest of the city of Syracuse in the Liverpool Central School District, serving ninth to twelfth grade students. It is the only hi ...

Liverpool Institute The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

, University College, Liverpool and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he took a first class degree in classics and was three times a winner of a Browne medal. In 1899, he joined the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts. In 1908 he became Keeper, remaining in the post until his retirement in 1936. He was also Professor of

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 ...

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

from 1906 to 1917, founding Lecturer in Sanskrit at the

School of Oriental Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

(1917–1948), Lecturer in Ancient

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n History and Epigraphy (1922–1948), and Librarian of the School (1940–1947). In 1948, at the age of 77, he rejoined the British Museum, which was desperately short of staff, as an Assistant Keeper, remaining there until his death. In 1932, Barnett became entirely blind in one eye and retained only partial vision in the other. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1937.

References

;Citations ;Sources * ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' * Obituary, '' Jewish Chronicle'', Feb, 5 1960, p. 1

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Lionel 1871 births 1960 deaths Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English orientalists English Jews Companions of the Order of the Bath Academics from Liverpool Academics of SOAS University of London Academics of University College London