Peter van Bohlen

Peter von Bohlen ( born March 9, 1796 in Wüppels, community Wanger country, district Friesland ( Oldenburg); † February 6, 1840 in Halle ( Saale) ) was Orientalist and one of the pioneers of Sanskrit studies in Germany.

Life

Von Bohlen was born the son of a poor countryman, made as a day laborer, journeyman tailor, servants, waiters and Handlungskommis a hard youth through until it is by metric translations and own poetic attempts, which he published in pamphlets, the entry into the grammar school of Johanneums procured in Hamburg ( 1817).

Bohlen graduated from here a four-year university course, moved into 1821, the University of Halle, then, supported by the Prussian Ministry, 1822-24, the University of Bonn to study under George William Freytag Arabic and under August Wilhelm von Schlegel Sanskrit.

After he had participated in a semester at Berlin Franz Bopp's teaching, he became a lecturer in 1825 in Königsberg, in 1826 associate in 1828 finally full professor of oriental literature and developed an important teaching in the field of oriental languages.

In the absence of a competent translator of Arabic, he had his habilitation thesis Carmen arabic Amuli dictum (Königsberg 1826) set himself, as he had already put in his Bonn Commentatio de Motenabbio (Bonn 1824) itself.

His most famous book is the popular, engaging written work Ancient India (Königsberg in 1830, 2 vols ), which by recent research is completely antiquated, but in his time most stimulating value.

He also published two Sanskrit seals with translation: Bhartriharis Sententiae (Leipzig 1833 and Hamburg 1835) and Ritusanhâra, id est Tempe Tatum macrocycle (Leipzig 1840); former edition underwent many corrections by Weber and Schiefner.

His work The Genesis, historical- critical explained (Königsberg 1835) was not undisputed. Of his smaller works, the treatise On the origin of the Zend language (Königsberg 1831) and a comparison of the Lithuanian with Sanskrit ( 1830) are noteworthy.

Since 1839 living in hall, and there he died on 6 February 1840. His autobiography was Johannes Voigt ( 2nd edition, Konigsberg 1842) published.

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