Hermann Feodor Kvergiç (24 June or 24 July 1895, in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

– 1948 or 1949), was an Orientalist, linguist and most notable for his alleged influence on the

Turkish nationalist Turkish nationalism () is nationalism among the people of Turkey and individuals whose national identity is Turkish people, Turkish. Turkish nationalism consists of political and social movements and sentiments prompted by a love for Turkish cu ...

Sun Language Theory The Sun Language Theory () was a Turkish pseudolinguistic, pseudoscientific quasi-hypothesis developed in Turkey in the 1930s that proposed that all human languages are descendants of one proto-Turkic primal language. The theory's promotion ...

Early life and education

In a document from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, he is described as having the citizenship of the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

and the Greek-Orthodox religion. He eventually moved from Bratislava to

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, where he graduated from high school on 7 July 1914. He then studied

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...

and Medicine at the University of Vienna and another semester of Medicine at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

. He graduated with a degree in Oriental studies in 1927 with a dissertation on ''The great Iranic Bundahisn.'' From 1929 onwards he then travelled through

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Laut, Jens Peter (2000), p. 98 visiting

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in 1933.Laut, Jens Peter (2000), p. 101

Sun Language Theory

In 1935 he sent a pamphlet on the Turkish language to

Ahmet Cevat Emre Ahmet Cevat Emre (1876–1961) was a Turkish journalist and linguist. He was a member of the Turkish Language Association (TDK) and involved in the latinization of the Turkish alphabet. He also served as a deputy for Çanakkale in the Grand Natio ...

and later also to

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

.Aytürk, İlker (2009) pp. 26–27 In the pamphlet, in which the influence of the sun was not treated, he described how he thought that the Turkish pronouns might be the origin of the human language. He mentioned that his work on the Turkish language was influenced by the psychological works of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

. Atatürk was impressed by the findings of Kvergiç and after some discussions within the

Turkish Language Association The Turkish Language Association (, TDK) is the List of language regulators, regulatory body for the Turkish language, founded on 12 July 1932 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. The Institution acts as ...

, the Sun Language Theory, which claimed that the Turkish language was the origin of the human language was brought forward. To representatives of the Turkish Language Association, Kvergiç wrote he would be interested in conducting more research on the Sun Language Theory. In 1935 he was employed as a

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses. Academic The title ''lector'' may be applied to lecturers ...

of the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

in the Philosophical faculty at the

University of Ankara Ankara University () is a public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the Turkish republic in 1923. History Ankara University was establish ...

. Later he stayed in Vienna, doing research on the Sun Language Theory while being closely observed and supported by the Turkish embassy. By 1938 he reportedly had an apartment in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Even though he had quite a notable influence on the findings of the Sun Language Theory, he would not claim authorship over it, but presented it as a new autochthone Turkish theory. In 1947 he was said to have lived in London.

Personal life

His wife was Gertrude Kvergiç-Kraus who had been in contact with Sigmund Freud. His last letter dates from late December 1948.Laus, Jens Peter (2002). p. 121

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvergic, Hermann Feodor Linguists of Turkish People from Bratislava 1895 births 20th-century deaths Year of death missing