August Pfizmaier

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Philipp August Pfizmaier (born March 17, 1808 in Karlsbad , Bohemia , † May 15, 1887 in Vienna ) was an Austrian sinologist , Japanologist , linguist and translator .

biography

Pfizmaier's father was the owner of the Posthof in Karlsbad, Gotthelf Friedrich Pfitzmaier, who came from Hermaringen in Württemberg , and his mother, Maria Dorothea, was the daughter of Christian Keil in Biebrich . August Pfizmaier already showed great interest and talent for foreign languages, including Chinese, at grammar schools in Prague and Pilsen . By the age of 19, he is said to have mastered French, Italian, English, Latin, ancient Greek, Turkish and Russian. In 1835 he completed a medical degree in Prague and worked as a spa doctor in Karlsbad. In 1838 he went to Vienna and learned Scandinavian languages, Dutch, Persian, Egyptian, Japanese and Manchurian. In 1843 he became a lecturer in Chinese, Turkish , Arabic and Persian languages and literature at the University of Vienna . In 1847 he was the first to translate a Japanese novel into a Western language. In 1848 he became a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences . From 1850 until his death in 1887, he translated an average of 200 pages from Chinese and 125 pages from Japanese each year.

Above all, Pfizmaier translated numerous works from Chinese into German: historical annals , mythological works, historical and scientific treatises, but also modern literary texts. He also wrote a description of the Ainu language and a Japanese-German dictionary , which, however, remained unfinished. He is considered one of the great translators from classical Chinese ; the scope of his translations from Japanese and Chinese into a European language is unsurpassed to this day.

Works (selection)

Monographs

  • Grammaire turque ou développement séparé et méthodique des trois genres de style usités, savoir l'arabe, le persan et le tartare . Vienna, Imprimierie imp. roy. de cour et d'état, 1847.
  • The uprisings of Wei-ngao and Kung-sün-schŏ's. On the history of the intermediate empire of Han [ Hòu Hàn shū «後 漢書»]. Vienna, Gerold, 1869 (translation).
  • From the story of the court of Tsin. From the history of the Yuen-khang period from Tsin. The rulers Hoan-wen and Hoan-hiuen. About some of China’s miracles [ Jìn shū «晉書»]. Wien, Gerold, 1876–1877 (translation).

items

Numerous articles and translations by Pfizmaier appeared in the proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pfizmaier, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pfizmaier, Philipp August (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sinologist, Japanologist, linguist and translator
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Carlsbad
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1887
Place of death Vienna