Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (14 October 1840 – 22 March 1899), also known as Gottlieb William Leitner, was a British orientalist.

Early life and education

Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner was born in Pest,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, on 14 October 1840 to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. His mother was Marie Henriette Herzberg. His father, Leopold Saphir, died when Gottlieb was young and his mother then married Johann Moritz Leitner. Gottlieb and his sister Elisabeth (the mother of British politician

Leopold Amery Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. During his career, he was known for his interest in military preparedness, ...

) were thereafter known as Leitner. As a child Leitner showed an extraordinary ability in languages. At the age of eight he went to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to learn Arabic and Turkish, and by the age of ten he was fluent in Turkish,

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 most European languages. At fifteen, he was appointed Interpreter (First Class) to the British

Commissariat A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some ar ...

in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, with the rank of colonel. When the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

ended, he wanted to become a priest and went to study at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. It is also reported that during his tour of Muslim countries he adopted a Muslim name of Abdur Rasheed Sayyah. ''Sayyah'' in Arabic means ''a traveller''. As a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, he is said to have had acquaintance with some fifty languages, many of which he spoke fluently. At nineteen, he became lecturer in Arabic, Turkish and

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

, and at twenty-three was appointed Professor in Arabic and Muslim Law at

. Three years later, sometime in 1864, he became Principal of

Government College University (Lahore) The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

(then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, present day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

). He was instrumental in the foundation of the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

in 1882. He founded many schools, literary associations, public libraries and academic journals, while at the same time dedicating himself to the study of the cultures of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. During this period he wrote a scholarly and comprehensive book in Urdu,

History of Islam The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims r ...

, in two volumes, with the help of an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

, Punjab. These two volumes were later published in 1871 and 1876. Following the passage of the

Royal Titles Act 1876 The Royal Titles Act 1876 ( 39 & 40 Vict., c. 10) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which officially recognized Queen Victoria (and subsequent monarchs) as “Empress of India”. This title had been assumed by her in 1876, u ...

which declared

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Empress of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...

, Prof. Leitner coined the title ''Kaysar-i-Hind'' as the new Empress' official title. Leitner mauvi

He retired from the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

in 1886.

Return to Europe

He returned to Europe in the late 1870s to pursue studies at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

(Germany), and he also undertook work for the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n, and British Governments. His ambition now was to found a centre for the study in Europe of Oriental languages, culture and history. On his return to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1881, he sought a suitable site for his proposed institution, and in 1883 came upon the vacant

Royal Dramatic College The Royal Dramatic College was a home for retired actors in Woking, England; it was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1865, and closed because of financial difficulty in 1877. Origins of the College On 21 July 1858, at the Princ ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, a building admirably suited for the purpose. For the benefit of Muslim students, Leitner commissioned the construction of a mosque. The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889 as one of the first mosques in Western Europe and the first purpose-built one in Britain, and survives to this day. It was built in Indo-Saracenic style, named after Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal (1868–1901). Shah Jahan Begum made sizable donations towards the building of the mosque and also contributed generously towards the founding of the "Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College" at

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

, which developed into the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

Inscription on the tomb of Dr G.W. Leitner

Dr. Leitner is buried at

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

, near Woking.

Major works

* ''On the Sciences of language and of ethnography, with general reference to the language and customs of the people of Hanza: A report of an extempore address''. (nach 1856). * ''Introduction to a philosophical Grammar of Arabic: Being an attempt to discover a few simple principles in Arabic Grammar''. Reprinted and slightly enlarged from the "Panjab Educational Magazine", Lahore 1871 * ''The Sinin-i-Islam; The races of Turkey; History of Dardistan, songs, legends etc.; Graeco-budhistic discoveries; History of indigenous education in the Panjab since annexation''. * ''A lecture on the races of Turkey, both of Europe and of Asia, and the state of their education: being, principally, a contribution to Muhammadan education''. Lahore 1871. *''A detailed analysis of Abdul Ghafur's dictionary of the terms used by criminal tribes in the Panjab''. Lahore 1880. * ''History of indigenous education in the Punjab since annexation and in 1882''. Calcutta 1882. Reprint Delhi: Amar Prakashan, 1982. * ''The Kunza and Nagyr handbook being an introduction to a Knowledge of the language''. Calcutta 1889. * ''Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893: being an account of the history, religions, customs, legends, fables, and songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial), Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Aagyr, and other parts of the Hindukush'', Reprint der Ausgabe Woking, Oriental Univ. Inst., 1893, New Delhi: Bhavana Books & Prints, 2001 *''Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893 : being an account of the history, religions, customs, legends, fables and songs of Gilgit Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial) Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Nagyr and other parts of the Hindukush; as also a suppl. to the 2. ed. of The Hunza and Nagyr handbook and an epitome of p. 3 of the author's "The languages and races of Dardistan"''. Reprint of the edition 1889, Karachi: Indus Publ., 1985.

References

* Oxford

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

* http://www.wokingmuslim.org/pers/dr_leitner.htm * Muhammad Ikram Chaghatai: ''Writings of Dr. Leitner: Islam, education, Dardistan, politics and culture of Northern areas''. Comp. by Muhammad Ikram Chaghatai. Lahore: Government College Research and Publ. Society; Sang-e-Meel Publ., 2002. * J. FL Stocqueler, ''Life and Labors of Dr Leitner'' (1875) * "Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives", ''The Strand Magazine'', Volume VII, January–June 1894 *

William Rubinstein William D. Rubinstein (born 12 August 1946) is a historian and author. His best-known work, ''Men of Property: The Very Wealthy in Britain Since the Industrial Revolution'', charts the rise of the ' super rich', a class he sees as expanding ex ...

, The secret of Leopold Amery, ''Historical Research'', vol. 73, no. 181 (June 2000), 175–196.

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia
* http://www.wokingmuslim.org/pers/dr_leitner.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Leitner, Gottlieb Wilhelm 19th-century Hungarian people 19th-century British people Hungarian orientalists British orientalists Jewish orientalists Hungarian Jews British Jews Academics of King's College London Alumni of King's College London Hungarian emigrants to England Writers from Budapest Burials at Brookwood Cemetery 1840 births 1899 deaths British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent