Oskar Frankfurter

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The only currently known illustration by Oskar Frankfurter, created before 1908.

Oskar Frankfurter (also Oscar Frankfurter ; * February 23, 1852 in Hamburg ; † October 1, 1922 there ) was a German linguist and Thaiist .

Oskar Frankfurter studied Sanskrit at the universities of Berlin and Göttingen and received his doctorate in 1874.

Oskar Frankfurter was sent to Thailand, then Siam, to work as a translator for German-Thai projects at the court of King Chulalongkorn ( Rama V. , 1868–1910). He had previously distinguished himself as a connoisseur of Pali and had compiled a catalog of Pali manuscripts for Oxford University together with Robert Childers . His Handbook of Pali is still being published. In Bangkok he received only US $ 20 a month, but he was more interested in the opportunity to continue his scientific studies.

Frankfurter initially worked for Prince Devawongse and remained in this position when he became the first Foreign Minister of Siam in 1881 . In 1895 he was brought in by the Belgian adviser to King Rama V (Chulalongkorn), Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns , as adviser and general secretary. In 1901 Jacquemyns resigned, Frankfurter was appointed to the Siamese Ministry of the Interior .

Frankfurter had been the chief librarian of the National Library of Thailand in Bangkok from October 1905 , where he was responsible for the central storage of the country's inscriptions. He succeeded in turning the previously neglected institution into a sizeable library which, in addition to foreign literature about the country, also collected Siamese works. After Siam joined the Allies in 1917 in the course of the First World War , he was deported to India as a German citizen in 1918. He was succeeded by George Coedès (1886–1969). Frankfurter was also a founding member of the Siam Society , which aims to preserve and research Thai history, culture and nature. When it was founded, he was made an honorary secretary, in 1906 he was elected second president and remained so until his expulsion in 1918, which led him to a British internment camp in India together with the other German citizens living in the country . In the spring of 1920, Frankfurter was repatriated to Germany. He died in Hamburg on October 1, 1922.

Fonts

  • List of Pali Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library , Oxford. In: Journal of the Pali Text Society. 1, 1882, pp. 30f. (Only eight manuscripts are included in this list: Vessantara-Jataka-nissaya, Nemi-jataka-nissaya, Mahosadha-Jataka-nissaya, Buddhavamsa, Dhammasanginippakarana and nissaya, 2 Samantapasadika-nissaya and one manuscript in Pali-Burmese).
  • Handbook of Pali: being an elementary grammar, a chrestomathy, and a glossary. Williams, London 1883. ( full text at Open Library )
  • The Old-Prussian Language . In: Notes and Queries 1883, p. 157.
  • Elements of Siamese Grammar: with appendices . 1900. ( full text at Open Library )
  • King Mongkut . in: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 1, 1904 , pp. 191-207.
  • Siamese missions to Ceylon in the 18th century. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 4, pt. 1, 1907 , pp. 23-25.
  • The Romanizing of Siamese. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 4, 1907 , pp. 28-32.
  • Events in Ayuddhaya from Chulasakarj 686–966. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 6, 1909 , p. 3ff.
  • The mission of Sir James Brooke to Siam. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 8, 1911 , pp. 19-32.
  • The attitudes of the Buddha . In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 10.2, 1913 , pp. 21-35.
  • Buddhist calendar in Siam. In: Anthropos. 8, 1913, pp. 736-737.
  • Proposed system for the transliteration of Siamese words into Roman characters. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 10.4, 1913 , pp. 1-21.
  • The unofficial mission of John Morgan, merchant, to Siam in 1821. In: Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok). 11.1, 1914 , pp. 1-8.
  • Sixteen tables of Thai alphabets current in Siam. Vajiranana National Library, Bangkok 1914.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oskar Frankfurter, Robert Childers: Classified List of Pali Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Manuscript. Oxford 1880.
  2. ^ Oskar Frankfurter: Handbook of Pali: being an elementary grammar, a chrestomathy and a dictionary. Asian Education Services 1999, ISBN 978-8120614284
  3. ↑ Andreas Stoffers: Oskar Frankfurter - a life for Thailand. In: Thailand-Rundschau of the German-Thai Society. Volume 9, H. 2, 1996, pp. 15-17.
  4. ↑ http://www.zeno.org/Meyers-1905/A/Tschulalongkorn
personal data
SURNAME Frankfurter, Oskar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frankfurter, Oscar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German linguist and Thaiist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1922
Place of death Hamburg