Gustav Leberecht Flügel (February 18, 1802 – July 5, 1870) was a German
orientalist.
Life
After attending high school in his native city Flügel studied theology and philosophy in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. He soon discovered his passion for oriental languages, which he studied in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. In 1832 he became a professor at the ''
Fürstenschule'' (''Ducal'' or ''Princely school'') of
St. Afra in
Meissen
Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...
. However, he resigned in 1850 on health grounds. From 1851 he worked at the ''Fürstenbibliothek'' in Vienna on the cataloguing of
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Turkish and
Persian manuscripts. In December 1857 he became a corresponding member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and, in 1859, a full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences. In 1864 he was admitted as a foreign member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
Flügel 's main work was the creation of a bibliographic and encyclopaedic lexicon of
Haji Khalfa, with Latin translation (London and Leipzig, 1835-1858). Particular importance was attached to
his edition of the Qur’ān, printed in Leipzig (1834 and 1893) by the printer and publisher Carl Christoph Traugott Tauchnitz. This made a reliable Quranic text available for the first time to European science. In the following years, almost all translations into European languages were based on Flügel's edition.
He died at
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
.
[
]
Family
Flügel was married. His son Josef died in 1910 at Oberlandesgerichtsrat in Dresden.
Works, Translations, Critical Essays and Articles
* The Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, (Leipzig, 1834 and 1893)
*''Bibliographical and Encyclopaedic Lexicon'' - (Arabic title ''Kaşf az-Zunūn'' by Hadi Khalfa; Arabic with parallel Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
translation in 7 vols., London and Leipzig, 1835–1858). Flügel's magnum opus.
*''Dissertatio de Arabicis Scriptorum Graecorum Interpretibus,'' in Memoriam Anniversariam Scholae Regiae Afranae. (Meisen, Klinkicht, 1841)[''Concordantiae Corani arabicae''. Leipzig 1842, 1898]
digitalized
Publications
''Lexicon bibliographicum et encyclopaedicum''
(Translation of "Al-Kashf Az-Zunun" by Kâtip Çelebi) (Vol.,1; Leipzig, 1835
(Vol.,2; Leipzig, 1837)(Vol.,3; London, 1842)(Vol.,4; London, 1845)(Vol.,5; London, 1850)(Vol.,6; London, 1852)''Corani Textus Arabicus''
(Leipzig, 1834, various reprints down to 1922)
''Concordantiae Corani arabicae''
(Leipzig, 1842 and 1898)
''Mani, Seine Lehren und Seine Schriften''
(Mani
Mani may refer to:
People
* Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name)
** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism
** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...
, his teachings and his writings) (Leipzig, 1862)
''Die Grammatischen Schulen der Araber''
(The Grammar Schools of Arabic) (London, 1862)
*''Ibn Kutlulbugas Krone der Lebensbeschreibungen'' (Leipzig, 1862)
''Kitab al-Fihrist''
(published posthumously)
References
External links
Correlation of Cairo and Flugel editions''Concordantiae Corani arabicae''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flugel, Gustav
1802 births
1870 deaths
People from Bautzen
People from the Electorate of Saxony
German Arabists
German orientalists
German male non-fiction writers
19th-century German translators