Karl Friedrich Neumann (IZ 54-1870 S 392 ANeumann)

Karl Friedrich Neumann (28 December 1793 – 17 March 1870) was a German orientalist.

Life

Neumann was born, under the name of Bamberger, at Reichsmannsdorf, near Bamberg. He studied philosophy and

philology 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 ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, became a convert to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and took the name of Neumann. From 1821 to 1825 he was a teacher in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

and

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

; then he learned

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 ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

at the

San Lazzaro degli Armeni San Lazzaro degli Armeni (, "Saint Lazarus of the Armenians"; called Saint Lazarus Island in English sources; hy, Սուրբ Ղազար, Surb Ghazar) is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon which has been home to the monastery of the Mekhita ...

ADB:Neumann, Friedrich
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, S. 529 f. and visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. In 1829 he went to China, where he studied the language and amassed a large library of valuable books and manuscripts. These, about 12,000 in number, he presented to the royal library at Munich. Returning to Germany in 1833, Neumann was made professor of Armenian and Chinese in the university of Munich. He held this position until 1852, when, owing to his pronounced revolutionary opinions, he was removed from his chair. Ten years later he settled in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where he remained until his death in 1870. Neumann's leisure time after his enforced retirement was occupied in historical studies, and besides his "''Geschichte des englischen Reichs in Asien''" (Leipzig, 1857, 2 volumes), he wrote a history of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, ''Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika'' (Berlin, 1863-1866, 3 volumes). His other works include: *''Versuch einer Geschichte der armenischen Literatur'' (Leipzig, 1836)
''Die Völker des südlichen Russland'' (1846, and again 1855)
*''Geschichte des englisch-chinesischen Kriegs'' (1846, and again 1855) He also issued some translations from Chinese and Armenian: *''The Catechism of the shamans, or, The laws and regulations of the priesthood of Buddha in China'' (1831). *
Vahram's Chronicle of the Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia, during the time of the Crusades
' (1831); translation of Vahram of Edessa (fl. c. 1303-1330). *''History of the pirates who infested the China Sea from 1807-1810'' (1831).Most widely held works about Karl Friedrich Neumann
WorldCat Identities The journal of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

(London, 1871) contains a full list of his works.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Karl Friedrich 1793 births 1870 deaths 19th-century German historians 19th-century German translators German orientalists German sinologists Armenian studies scholars Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Heidelberg University alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni German people of Jewish descent Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof San Lazzaro degli Armeni alumni 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers German male non-fiction writers