Michael Viggo Fausböll (22 September 1821 – 3 June 1908) was a Danish educator, translator, orientalist and linguist. He was a pioneer of

Pāli Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Therav� ...

scholarship.

Biography

Fausbøll was born at Hove near

Lemvig Lemvig is a market town located on the Limfjord in North Jutland, Denmark. The town has a population of 6,741 (2025),University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1838 and received his

Cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

in 1847. From 1878 to 1902 Fausbøll was professor at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

where he taught

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and East Indian

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. His Latin translation of the ''

Dhammapada The ''Dhammapada'' (; ) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures.See, for instance, Buswell (2003): "rank among the best known Buddhist texts" (p. 11); and, "on ...

'' was published in 1855 with a new edition in 1900. It formed the basis for the first complete translation of this text into English, by philologist

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...

in the ''

Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ...

'', a 50-volume set published by Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. He became a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

in 1888, Dannebrogsmand in 1891 and Commander 2nd degree in 1898. He died at

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

in 1908 and was buried at Gentofte Cemetery.

Publications

Fausböll's translations include: * ''The Dhammapada: Being a collection of moral verses in Pali'' (trans. into Latin) (Copenhagen, 1855). * '' Sutta-Nipata'' ''(

)'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1881; and, London: PTS, 1885). * ''

Jataka The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...

with

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'' (London: PTS, 1877-1896). Fausböll also wrote: * ''Indian mythology according to the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

''. (London: Luzac, 1903; reprinted as ''Indian mythology according to the Indian epics'', New Delhi: Cosmo, 1981)
Fausbøll, V. (Viggo), 1821-1908
''Library of Congress'' Retrieved 12 Nov. 2008

References

External links

Fausböll, V. (trans.) (1881)

translated from the Pâli by V. Fausböll; translated into English by F. Max Müller {{DEFAULTSORT:Fausboll, Viggo 1821 births 18th-century Danish translators 1908 deaths Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Buddhist studies scholars Commanders Second Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Danish educators Danish orientalists Indologists Linguists of Pali Pali People from Lemvig Municipality Translators from Pali University of Copenhagen alumni