Acta Eruditorum - II monete, 1736 – BEIC 13456523

Theophilus (Gottlieb) Siegfried Bayer (1694–1738), 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 **Ger ...

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

with specialization in

Sinology Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to th ...

. He was a

Sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

and professor of

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 ...

and

Roman Antiquities Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary styl ...

St Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

between 1726 and 1737.

Personal details

Bayer was a native of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. His father Johann Friedrich was from the German Protestant minority in Hungary, but had moved to East Prussia where he worked as a painter. The youthful T. S. Bayer was an excellent student at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

, studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was a

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Königsberg Cathedral , infobox_width = , image = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Front (west side) of the cathedral , map_type = , map_ ...

from 1721 to 1726, and also worked as a librarian at the

Königsberg Public Library Public Library and Archive in Kneiphof Stamp of the library The Königsberg Public Library (german: Stadtbibliothek Königsberg) was a public library in Königsberg, Germany. Background The library developed from the personal collection of Jo ...

Bayer collection

He had a library of more than 200 manuscripts, Chinese and other

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

al books, including: *

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed ...

s * Oriental history and

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

-related notes * Correspondence with

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. After his death in

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 ...

his widow handed over his books and papers to the Academy authorities, receiving the rest of her husband's pay due that year. The library was later sold to 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 reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Heinrich Walter Gerdes. William Hunter later purchased the collection from Gerdes' widow. It finally reached the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1807 with a brief stay in

with Dr Matthew Baillie, Hunter's nephew.

His works

* Historia regni Graecorum bactriani History of the Kingdom of the Bactrian Greeks *

Manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

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 ...

and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. * De Eclipsi Sinica published in 1718. * Museum sinicum, a two-volume compendium of materials on the Chinese language published in 1730. * Works on the history of Russia, including ''De Varagis'' (1729) and ''Origines russicae'' (1736).Serhii Plokhy, ''Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), chapter 1.

References

External links

Transferring linguistic knowledge from Asia to Europe. T. S. Bayer’s reception of Indian missionary grammars.

T.S. Bayer, 1694-1738 : pioneer sinologist - Author: Knud Lundbæk

Manuscripts - Collections relating to Theophilus Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer

Visitors from Guangxhou, China - The tour was rounded off with a visit to Special Collections to view a display of Chinese material which included part of the collection of Theophilus Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738), sinologist.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Theophilus Siegfried 1694 births 1738 deaths 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers German librarians German numismatists German orientalists German philologists German sinologists Writers from Königsberg People from East Prussia Russian orientalists Russian philologists Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Religious studies scholars German male non-fiction writers