Wilhelm Geiger

Wilhelm Ludwig Geiger ( born July 21, 1856 in Nuremberg, † September 2, 1943 in Neubiberg ) was a German Indologist and Iranist.

Life and work

Wilhelm Geiger was born the son of a pastor in 1856 in Nuremberg. He studied classical and oriental philology in Erlangen Friedrich von Spiegel and joined in the winter semester 1873/74 the fraternity Uttenruthia Erlangen. In 1876, he completed a doctorate on the Pehleviversion the first chapter, the Vendidad. Following this, Geiger was as a teacher at a high school in Neustadt adH active. 1882 his main work in the field of Iranian Studies, the Ostiranische culture in ancient times has been published. 1884 Geiger moved to the Max -Gymnasium in Munich. 1891 Geiger was appointed professor at the University of Erlangen. 1896 was succeeded by his plan of Iranian philology. Until about 1900, Geiger devoted mainly of Iranian Studies, later he focused mainly on the Indian and made ​​several trips to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). To date, the importance of his translations of the chronicles frühceylonesischen Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa from Pali and his contributions to the development of this language. In 1920, Geiger was called to the University of Munich, where he became the successor of Ernst Kuhn.

Geiger was national- liberal member of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies of 1905-06.

Geiger's sons from his first marriage to Marie Ploch man, the physicist Hans Geiger and climatologist Rudolf Geiger were also eminent scientists. In the Loewenichstraße in Erlangen remember Plaques on Wilhelm Geiger and his son Hans.

Awards

Geiger was an honorary member of the German Oriental Society, the American Oriental Society, the Société asiatique and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He was awarded by the Emperor of Japan in 1935 the Commemorative Medal for the Buddhist in 2500 - year celebration.

Publications

  • Ceylon. Diaries and travel memories. Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1898.
  • (edited by Ernst Kuhn ) plan of the Iranian philology. Trübner, Strasbourg 1896.
  • Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, the two chronicles of the island of Ceylon. Deichert, Erlangen / Leipzig 1901.
  • Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa and the historical tradition in Ceylon. G. Boehme, Leipzig 1905.
  • ( with Magdalene Geiger ) Pāli Dhamma primarily canonical in the literature. Publisher of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich 1920.
  • Elementary book of Sanskrit. 2 parts. 3, a supplement enlarged edition. De Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig, 1923.
  • Meeting to Heinrich Junker, Aryan research. around 1930.
  • Sinhala etymologies. Stephen Austin and Sons, Hertford 1936.
  • Contributions to the Sinhala language history. C. H. Beck, Munich, 1942.
  • Small writings on Indian and Buddhist Studies. Edited by Heinz Bechert. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1973.
  • The speeches of the Buddha: Grouped collection, Samyutta Nikāya. From the Pali Canon translated by Wilhelm Geiger, Nyanaponika Mahathera, Hellmuth Hecker. Beyerlein Stone Schulte, Stammbachstrasse 1997, ISBN 3-931095-16-9.

Publications in English

  • The Age of the Avesta and Zoroaster, co-authored with Friedrich Spiegel, translated into English by Dārāb Dastur Peshotan Sanjana, London, 1886.
  • Civilization of the eastern Iranians in ancient times, with an introduction on the Avesta religion, translated into English by Darab Dastur Peshotan Sanjana, London 1885-1886.
  • Zarathushtra in the Gathas and in the Greek and Roman classics, co-authored with Frederick Henry Hugo Windisch man; translated into English by Dārāb Peshotan Sanjana, Leipzig 1897.
  • The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa and Their historical development in Ceylon, translated into English by Ethel M. Coomaraswamy, Colombo 1908.
  • The Mahavamsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon, English translation assisted by Bode, Mabel Haynes, Pali Text Society, London, 1912. ( Scan)
  • Maldivian Linguistic Studies, Colombo, 1919.
  • The Language of the Väddās ", Calcutta, 1935.
  • A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language Colombo 1938.
  • Pali Literature and Language, translated by Batakrishna Ghosh from the German original, Calcutta, 1943. Revised by KR Norman under the title A Pali Grammar, Oxford 1994.
  • Cūlavamsa: being the more recent part of the Mahāvamsa, English translation assisted by Christian Duff Mabel Rickmers, Colombo 1953.
  • Culture of Ceylon in mediaeval times, edited by Heinz Bechert, Wiesbaden 1960.
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