Franz August Schmölders

Franz August Schmölders ( born November 28, 1809 in roadstead, Münster, † February 21, 1880 in Breslau) was a German orientalist. His focus was the Arabic language and literature.

Life

Schmölders studied philosophy and theology in 1830 at the University of Bonn. Under the influence of professors Christian August Brandis, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Freytag, Christian Lassen and August Wilhelm Schlegel, he soon on the oriental, especially Arabic philosophy. He learned for Hebrew, Arabic, Avestan, Persian, Syriac and Sanskrit.

During his studies, Schmölders dealt especially with the Arabic translations of the writings of Aristotle. In 1835 he won with a text edition of the works of the Indian philosophers Bhartrihari the price of the Faculty of Arts. On July 22, 1836, he became the Dr. phil. doctorate.

A scholarship from the Prussian Academy of Sciences allowed Schmölders after studying a three and a half year stay in Paris, where he deepened his studies. He attended lectures at major Arabist Silvestre de Sacy France, Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795-1867) and Pierre Amédée Jaubert. During his time in Paris he wrote his first book in French, in which he discussed the history of philosophy among the Arabs. It appeared in 1842 from the publisher Firmin Didot. Shortly thereafter Schmölders returned to Bonn and habilitated there.

On December 22, 1842 Schmölders gave his inaugural lecture at the University of Bonn. As a lecturer he was not a steady income, but the Prussian minister of culture Johann Albrecht Friedrich Eichhorn gave him more than once government support through scholarships. After one and a half years (1844 ) Schmölders was appointed as associate professor of oriental languages ​​and literature at the University of Breslau. He followed this call on June 29, 1844.

In Breslau Schmölders worked for 16 years at the same time at the University and in the teaching profession. He taught part-time at the Matthias Gymnasium Hebrew and French, and taught with official permission and an English course one, in which he recorded exceptionally talented students. His research, he continued in spite of the double burden. On 1 May 1846 he was admitted as a full member of the German Oriental Society.

After the death of his older colleague Georg Heinrich Bernstein (1860 ) received Schmölders on October 10, whose full professor of Oriental Studies. Thus he was able to finish his teaching at the high school. He worked for twenty years as a professor at the University and received during this time many honors at home and abroad.

Because of his language skills - he mastered 22 languages ​​- Schmölders was very popular even outside the university. As a member of the Scientific Examination Committee he took exams in English and French, the royal city and court of appeals, he worked as a sworn interpreter. His multiple commitments, his keen interest in teaching and an abdominal illness prevented him since the 1860s to extensive publications.

Writings (selection )

• Documentation philosophiae Arabum ex codd. mss. primus edidit, Latine vertit, Commentario illustravit Dr. AS. Bonn 1836
• Essai sur les écoles philosophiques chez les Arabes et notamment sur ​​la doctrine d' Algazzali. Paris 1842
• De studiis Arabum grammaticus libellus. Wroclaw 1862