Albrecht Weber
Albrecht Friedrich Weber (born February 17, 1825 in Breslau ; † November 30, 1901 in Berlin ) was a German Indologist and historian who researched in particular on the Veda and Jainism .
life and work
Albrecht Weber was the son of the economist Benedikt Weber († 1848 in Breslau) and studied languages from 1842 to 1845 at the universities in Breslau, Bonn and Berlin; Weber put his focus on the oriental languages. During his studies he became a member of the Fridericiana Bonn fraternity in 1844 .
In 1846 Weber undertook a study trip to London , generously supported by a grant from the Berlin Academy of Sciences , where he was able to visit Horace Hayman Wilson (1786-1860) and John Stuart Mill . Weber returned to Paris, where he also met colleagues such as Eugène Burnouf , Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795–1867) and others.
After his return to Berlin, he settled in Berlin for further studies. During this time he also made the acquaintance of the German orientalist Julius von Mohl . After doctorate and habilitation (1848) at the University of Berlin, Weber worked as a private scholar for ancient Indian languages and literature. In this subject he was appointed associate professor (1856) and later full professor (1867). In 1857 Weber was accepted as a full member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.
Many important and sometimes very extensive Sanskrit texts were published in English for the first time by Albrecht Weber: B. the "White Jajurveda" or the "Black Jajurveda". In his "Indian Literature History" Weber set a milestone in the Indology of Germany. His "Indian Stripes" are a collection of smaller works, in which his reviews of almost all important works of the last 30 years from the field of Sanskrit and Indian antiquity are almost completely united.
In 1850 Weber became the editor of the journal “Indian Studies”, which he published with great care, supported by the German Oriental Society . This periodical was also the suitable platform for Weber to publish his current research; z. B. “On a fragment of the Bhagavatî” or “Saptaçatakam des Hâla”. Of his other treatises published in the papers and monthly reports of the Berlin Academy, those on the Nakshatras, the constellations of the moon borrowed from Babylon among the Indians (1860-61) and on the origin of the epic poem Ramayana (Berlin 1870) should be emphasized. His translation of the drama "Mâlavikâ und Agnimitrâ" into German was also trend-setting for his time.
One of his great merits is that he was one of the first Indologists to research Jain literature and make it known in the West. He was able to do this after Georg Bühler had sent him some manuscripts from India, which he immediately studied intensively. He published his research in a treatise On the Jain Scriptures . In addition, he also dealt with the Jaina Prakrit .
Albrecht Weber made Jews jointly responsible for anti-Semitism (“No smoke without fire!”). After protests he affirmed this position and noted that the Jews with their religious institutions had to submit and join the general cultural progress, which in the long term does not tolerate anything that contradicts the moral sense of the people of the time.
Works
- White Jajurveda , London 1849-1859 (3 vol.)
- Black Jajurveda , Leipzig 1871–1872
- Tscharanawyuha. Overview of the schools of the Vedas , Berlin 1855
- Indian literature history , Berlin 1852 (2nd A. Berlin 1876 digitized )
- Indian sketches , Berlin 1857
- Indian Stripes , Berlin 1868–1879 (3 vol.)
- List of the Berlin Sanskrit manuscripts , Berlin 1853 ff.
- About the Çatrunjaya Mâhâtmyam , Leipzig 1858
- Indian Studies , 1849–1885 (18 vol.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fraternity leaves . XIV., Berlin 1900, p. 281.
- ↑ Today's transcription: Yajurveda.
- ↑ On the Jain Scriptures . In: Indian Studies , Vol. 16 (1883), pp. 1-90 and Indian Studies , Vol. 17 (1885), pp. 211-479.
- ↑ Avraham Barkai: «Defend yourself!» The Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith. CH Beck, Munich 2002, p. 21 f.
Web links
- Literature by and about Albrecht Weber in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weber, Albrecht |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Weber, Albrecht Friedrich (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Sanskritist and historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 17, 1825 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wroclaw |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 30, 1901 |
| Place of death | Berlin |