Wilhelm Ahlwardt (4 July 1828,

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...

– 2 November 1909, Greifswald) was a German orientalist who specialized in research of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

. He was the son of

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 as th ...

Christian Wilhelm Ahlwardt Christian Wilhelm Ahlwardt (23 November 1760 in Greifswald – 12 April 1830 in Greifswald) was a German classical philologist. He was the father of Oriental studies, orientalist Wilhelm Ahlwardt (1828–1909). After obtaining his habilitation from ...

(1760–1830).

Biography

He studied oriental

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 ...

at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

(1846–48, 1849–50) as a student of Johann Gottfried Ludwig Kosegarten and at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

(1848–49) under

Heinrich Ewald Georg Heinrich August Ewald (16 November 18034 May 1875) was a German oriental studies, orientalist, Protestant theology, theologian, and Biblical exegete. He studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1827 he became extraordinary professor there ...

. After graduation, he spent several years studying Arab manuscripts in libraries at

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1856 he began work as an assistant

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

at Greifswald, obtaining his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

during the following year. In 1861 he became a professor at the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. Obituary Notices
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series) / Volume 42 / Issue 02 / April 1910, pp 553-556

Published works

His main work was the masterful ''Verzeichnis der arabischen Handschriften'' (1887–1899), a 10 volume catalogue of Arabic manuscripts kept at the

Royal Library of Berlin The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the larg ...

. As a dedication to the 400 year jubilee of the university at Greifswald (1856), he published ''Über Poesie und Poetik der Araber'' ("On Poetry and Poetics of the Arabs"). Other principal works by Ahlwardt are: * ''Chalef elahmar's Qasside: Berichtigter arabischer Text'', 1859 – ( Khalaf al-Aḥmar's

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

). * "The

divan A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...

s of the six

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

Arabic poets Ennabiga, 'Antara, Tharafa, Zuhair, 'Alqama and Imruulqais"
Trübner & co., London, 1870 (in English)
OCLC Classify
published works * ''Al-Fakhrî'' by Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqā (

, É. Bouillon, 1895).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlwardt, Wilhelm 1828 births 1909 deaths People from Greifswald University of Greifswald alumni Academic staff of the University of Greifswald University of Göttingen alumni German orientalists German librarians German male non-fiction writers