Oluf (Olaus) Gerhard Tychsen (14 December 1734,

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

, then

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

, now

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

– 30 December 1815,

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

, then Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Orientalist and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

scholar. He is known today as one of the founding fathers of Islamic

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

. As a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Christian, he attended the Christianeum grammar school in Altona, then

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and the rabbinic school attached to the Altona Ashkenazi synagogue, led by

Jonathan Eybeschütz Rav Yonatan Eybeschütz (רבי יהונתן אייבשיץ) (also Eibeschutz or Eibeschitz; 1690 1764) was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hambur ...

, chief rabbi of the Triple Community of Altona-Hamburg-

Wandsbek Wandsbek () is the second-largest of seven boroughs that make up the city and state of Hamburg, Germany. The name of the district is derived from the river Wandse which passes through here. Wandsbek, which was formerly an independent city, is ur ...

. From 1756 he studied Oriental languages at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. He spent a year of missionary work towards the conversion of Jews, and then taught Hebrew in the newly founded University of Bützow. He held librarian and academic positions in

Bützow Bützow is a town in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany, centered on Bützower See. History The town was first mentioned in 1171. From 1815 to 1918 Bützow was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schw ...

. There he founded the Journal ''Bützower Nebenstunden'', which comprised a broad variety of articles about the Old Testament and Oriental Culture, especially material culture, such as Islamic coins. From 1778 he taught at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

and led the Rostock University Library. He worked in different fields of Oriental studies, Arabic, Syriac, and Hebrew. His ''Introduction into Islamic Numismatics'', in 1794, was the first scientific handbook on this topic, based on twenty-seven years of research. Among his students were

Christian Martin Frähn Christian Martin Joachim (von) Frähn (4 June 1782 – 16 August 1851), German and Russian numismatist and historian, was born at Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Frähn began his Oriental studies under Tychsen at the university of Rostock, a ...

, later professor at the

University of Kazan Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

and later founder of the

Asiatic Museum The Asiatic Museum (Азиатский музей) in Saint Petersburg was one of the first museums of Asian art in Europe. Its existence spanned 112 years from 1818 to 1930 when it was incorporated into the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the ...

Saint 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 ...

, and Christian Adler, who wrote the first scientific catalogue of a collection of Islamic coins and later became superintendent for Schleswig-Holstein. He was a prolific author who published some forty volumes of scholarly studies during his academic career. He received the title of ''Chaver'', a grade of

rabbinic ordination Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...

, from Eybeschütz, becoming the only known non-Jew to have done so.

Memberships

* since 1791:

Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala), is the oldest of the royal academies in Sweden, having been founded in 1710. The society has, by royal decree of 1906, 50 Swedish fellows and 100 foreign. ...

* since 1792: Accadenia Letteraria Volsca Veliterna (Società letteraria dei Volsci),

Velletri Velletri (; la, Velitrae; xvo, Velester) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring comm ...

* since 1793: Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, Stockholm * since 1796:

Galileiana Academy of Arts and Science The Accademia Galileiana, or "Galilean academy", is a learned society in the city of Padua in Italy. The full name of the society is , "Galilean academy of science, letters and the arts in Padova". It was founded as the in Padua in 1599, on the ...

, Padua (corresponding) * since 1798:

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

* since 1801: Mecklenburgian Society for Nature Research,

* since 1803: Royal Prussian Society of Sciences, Berlin * since 1813:

Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

, Munich (corresponding) * since 1815: Historical-Philological Class (department),

(honorary corresponding)

References

* Niklot Klüßendorf: "Das akademische Münzkabinett der Universität Rostock (1794–1944)." In: Werner Buchholz, Günter Mangelsdorf (eds.): ''Land am Meer, Pommern im Spiegel seiner Geschichte, Roderich Schmidt zum 70. Geburtstag'', Köln et al. 1995, pp. 725–757. * Stefan Heidemann: "Die Entwicklung der Methoden in der Islamischen Numismatik im 18. Jahrhundert – War Johann Jacob Reiske ihr Begründer?" In: Hans-Georg Ebert, Thoralf Hanstein (edd.): Johann Jacob Reiske: Persönlichkeit und Wirkung, Leipzig 2005 (= Beiträge zur Leipziger Universitäts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte 7), pp. 147–202.
Shnayer Z. Leiman, ''the Seforim blog'', November 16, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tychsen, Oluf Gerhard 1734 births 1815 deaths People from Tønder Municipality People from the Duchy of Schleswig German orientalists German numismatists 18th-century German Protestant theologians Christian Hebraists University of Halle alumni University of Bützow alumni University of Rostock faculty German male non-fiction writers Danish Lutherans German Lutherans Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Kazan Federal University