![Solomon Caesar Malan 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Solomon_Caesar_Malan_01.png)
Solomon Caesar Malan (22 April 1812 – 25 November 1894) D.D., Vicar of Broadwindsor, Prebendary of Sarum, was a British
divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine< ...](_blank)
,
polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...
and well known
orientalist whose fluency in language was legendary: English, French, Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, Tibetan, Chinese, Georgian, Armenian, Coptic, Geez.
Life
![Stellenbosch2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Stellenbosch2.JPG)
By birth a
Genevan
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
descended from an
exiled French family, Malan was born in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, where his father, Dr
Henri Abraham César Malan (1787–1864) enjoyed a great reputation as a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
divine.
From his earliest youth he manifested a remarkable faculty for the study of languages, and when he came to Scotland as tutor in the
marquis of Tweeddale
Marquess of Tweeddale (sometimes spelled ''Tweedale'') is a title of the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1694 for the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale. Lord Tweeddale holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Tweeddale (created 1646), Earl of Gifford (1694), ...
's family at the age of 18 he had already made progress in
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 ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
. In 1833 he matriculated at
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...
; and English being almost an unknown tongue to him, he petitioned the examiners to allow him to do his paper work of the examination in French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
or
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, rather than in English.
But his request was not granted. After gaining the Boden and the Pusey and Ellerton scholarships, he graduated 2nd class in ''Literae humaniores'' in 1837. He then proceeded to
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 ...
as classical lecturer at
Bishop's College, Calcutta, to which post he added the duties of secretary to the Bengal branch of the Royal Asiatic Society; and although compelled by illness to return in 1840, laid the foundation of a knowledge of
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
and Chinese.
After serving various curacies, he was presented in 1845 to the living of
Broadwindsor, Dorset, which he held until 1886 During this entire period he continued to augment his linguistic knowledge; he was able to preach in
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
, on a visit which he paid to
Nineveh
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
in 1872. His translations from the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, Georgian and
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
were numerous. He applied his Chinese learning to the determination of important points connected with Chinese religion, and published a vast number of parallel passages illustrative of the ''
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different ...
''.
In 1880 the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D.
No modern scholar, perhaps, has so nearly approached the linguistic omniscience of
Mezzofanti;
[ E. H. Blakeney, "The Greatest Linguist", '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', 15 December 1929, p. 9. but, like Mezzofanti, Dr Malan was more of a linguist than a critic. He made himself conspicuous by the vehemence of his opposition to
Westcott and
Hort Hort may refer to:
People
* Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player
* F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian
* Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor
* Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chur ...
's text of the New Testament, and to the transliteration of Oriental languages, on neither of which points did he have the general support of scholars. His extensive and valuable library, some special collections excepted, was presented by him in his lifetime to the Indian Institute at Oxford. He died at
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
. His life has been written by his son.
Drawings of an excavation in Nineveh by S. C. Malan (1850)
File:S. C. Malan. Lion. Nimroud.jpg, Lion. Nimroud
File:At Kooyoonjik.jpg, At Kuyunjik
File:Excavtions at Kooyoonjik.jpg, Excavtions at Kuyunjik
File:Mr. Layard at Kooyoonjik.jpg, Austen Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard (; 5 March 18175 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in It ...
at Kuyunjik
Works
* The Book of Adam and Eve, also called The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, a Book of the early Eastern Church, translated from the Ethiopic (''Gadla Adan wa Hewan'') with notes from the Kufale, Talmud, Midrashim, and other Eastern works, 1882.
* A Plea for the Received Greek Text and the Authorised Version of the New Testament
* The Conflict of the Holy Apostles, an apocryphal book of the early Eastern Church translated from and Ethiopic Ms.
* The Epistle of S. Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy, translated from an Ethiopic Ms.
* The Rest of Assumption of S. John the Evangelist, translated from the Armenian.
* The Life and times of S. Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Church.
* On the Corean version of the Gospels, original documents of the Coptic Church.
* Original notes on the Book of Proverbs mostly from eastern writings.
* Seven Chapters from S. Matthew I-VI to S. Luke XI of 1881, revised.
* A short history of the Georgian Church.
See also
*
List of polyglots
This is a list of notable people with a knowledge of six or more languages.
Deceased
Antiquity and Middle Ages
* Mithridates VI (135–63 BC), King of Pontus. According to Pliny the Elder, Mithridates could speak the languages of all of the twe ...
References
*
*
*
External links
*
The Conflict of Adam and Eve' (1882)
*
The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles' (1871)
Further reading
Malan, Arthur Noel. 1897.
Solomon Caesar Malan, D.D. : memorials of his life and writings'. London : John Murray. in OCLC Worldca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malan, Solomon Caesar
1812 births
1894 deaths
Clergy from Geneva
British orientalists
Kartvelian studies scholars
Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford