Matthew Lumsden (1777–1835) was a Scottish
orientalist. He was educated at
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, and held a professorship of Persian and Arabic at the
College of Fort William,
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 ...
.
Biography
He was fifth son of John Lumsden of
Cushnie, Aberdeenshire. After being educated at King's College, Old Aberdeen, he went to India as assistant professor of Persian and Arabic in the college of Fort William, and in 1808 succeeded to the professorship. In 1812 he was appointed secretary to the
Calcutta Madrasa
Aliah University (AU; ur, جامعہ عالیہ) is a state government controlled autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. It offers und ...
, and superintended translations of English works into Persian then in progress. From 1814 until 1817 he had charge of the company's press at Calcutta, and in 1818 he became secretary to the stationery committee.
In bad health, Lumsden left India on furlough in March 1820, and travelled with his cousin, Lieutenant Thomas Lumsden (father of General
Harry Burnett Lumsden), through
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
to England. An account of this journey was published by Lieutenant Lumsden in 1822.
Lumsden returned to India in 1821. He died at
Tooting Common,
Surrey, on 31 March 1835. From King's College, Old Aberdeen, to which he presented his own and many other oriental works, he received in 1808 the degree of LL.D.
Works
Lumsden published:
* ''A Grammar of the Persian Language'', 2 vols. Calcutta, 1810.
* ''A Grammar of the Arabic Language'', in 2 vols., Calcutta, 1813, of which only the first volume appeared.
* ''A Letter to Lieutenant Gavin Young … in Refutation of his Opinions on some Questions of General Grammar'', Calcutta, 1817.
He also edited
Firdausī's ''
Shah Namu'', Calcutta, 1811, with a revised text and an English preface.
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
Scottish orientalists
1777 births
1835 deaths
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
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