Stanley Insler (June 23, 1937 – January 5, 2019) was an American

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

Early life

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on June 23, 1937, to parents Clara and Frank, and attended the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

until the age of sixteen, when he enrolled at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Insler graduated from Columbia College in 1957. He studied at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

from 1960 to 1962, and completed a doctorate at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 1963. Upon earning his Ph.D Insler joined Yale's faculty, where he was later named the Edward E. Salisbury Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology. Among his many publications are ''The Gāthās of Zarathustra'', ''

Acta Iranica ''Acta Iranica'' is a periodical on Iranian studies published mainly in French, English, and German. The English translation of the French undertitle of this periodical reads: ''The Permanent Encyclopedia of Iranian Studies'' published by an Inter ...

'' 8 (Tehéran-Lìege: Bibliothèque Pahlavi; Leiden: diffusion E. J. Brill, 9741975), "The Love of Truth in Ancient Iran," '' Parsiana'' (September, 1989), 18-20; chapters on “Human Behavior and Good Thinking” and “Zarathustra’s Vision” in
An Introduction to the Gathas of Zarathustra
', ed. Dina G. McIntyre (Pittsburgh, 1989-90). Victor Mair
Stanley Insler, 1937-2019

Language Log ''Language Log'' is a collaborative language blog maintained by Mark Liberman, a phonetician at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the posts focus on language use in the media and in popular culture. Text available through Google Search f ...

, 5 January 2019. In 2001, he was elected fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. He was granted emeritus status upon retirement in 2012 and died at

Yale–New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and operated by the Yale New Haven Health System. YNHH includes the 168-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, the 201-bed Yale New Haven ...

on January 5, 2019, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Insler, Stanley 1937 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American philologists Columbia College (New York) alumni Yale University alumni Yale University faculty University of Tübingen alumni American Sanskrit scholars Writers from the Bronx The Bronx High School of Science alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences