Alfred Felix Landon Beeston

Alfred Felix Landon Beeston ( born February 23, 1911 in Barnes, † 29 September 1995) was a British Orientalist. He was mainly known for his research on the Arabic language and literature as well as to South Arabian philology.

Beeston was born in Barnes, South West London, and attended Westminster School. At the age of 14, he was fascinated by issued at the British Museum Old South Arabian inscriptions and therefore already dealt as a student with the Arabic. From 1929 he attended the Oxford Christ Church; In 1933 he received a first prize in Arabic and Persian. In 1935 he took during his PhD on several Sabaean inscriptions to a place in the Bodleian Library and presented his dissertation completed in 1937.

From November 1940 to April 1946 he served in the Intelligence Corps in Palestine. In 1957 he became professor of Arabic at Oxford, until he retired in 1979.

Beeston became known as Semitic philologist especially for his research and works for South Arabian, to whom he published two grammars and numerous essays and other books. Even the Arab, he published several important books. In addition, he also worked on a catalog of oriental manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. In addition to ancient and modern oriental languages ​​dominated Beeston also numerous other languages ​​from European languages ​​such as Welsh and Hungarian to exotic idioms such as the Chinese.

1965 elected him the British Academy for their member.

Important works

• Sabaean Inscriptions, Oxford 1937
• Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindustani and Pushtu Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. Part III. Additional Persian Manuscripts, Oxford University Press, 1955.
• A Descriptive Grammar of Epigraphic South Arabian, Luzac, London 1962.
• Written Arabic, on Approach to the Basic Structures, Cambridge University Press, 1968.
• The Arabic Language Today, Coll. Modern Languages ​​, Hutchinson, London 1970.
• The Epistle on Singing - Girls of Jahiu, Aris and Phillips, Warminster 1980.
• Sabaic Dictionary ( English - French - Arabic) / Dictionnaire Sabeen ( anglais - français - arabe ) / al - Mu'gam as- saba'i (bi - l - ingliziyya wa-l - l - ʿ wa firansiyya arabiyya ), Publication of the University of Sanaa, YAR, Louvain- la -Neuve (Editions Peeters ) et Beyrouth ( Librairie du Liban ), together with Mahmoud al - Ghul, Walter W. Müller et Jaques Ryckmans, 1982.
• Muchtarat min at - NuQ, • al - yamaniyya al - Qadima, T, nis (al- Munaúúama al-' arabiyya li -t - tarbiya wa -au- ùaqafa wa - al-' Ul, m), together with Muhammad Bafaqih, Christian Robin et Mahm, d al - •, l In 1985.