Otto Stein (Indologist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Stein (born October 21, 1893 in Saaz (Žatec) , Austria-Hungary ; died 1942 ) was a Czech Indologist and victim of the Holocaust .

Life

Otto Stein was the son of the hop trader Alois Lazar Stein and his wife Charlotte nee. Gerstl. He had a younger brother Pavel († 1949). After graduating from high school , Stein studied Indology , Ethnology , Greek Studies and Ancient History at the Karl Ferdinand University in Prague from 1912 to 1918 . The ancient historian Heinrich Swoboda and the Indologist Moriz Winternitz , who also supervised his dissertation, influenced him most . During the First World War he interrupted his studies in 1916/1917 and took part in the fighting in Italy. After his return, Stein was promoted to Dr. phil. PhD . In his dissertation he compared the Indian report by the Greek author Megasthenes with the Indian state textbook Arthashastra .

From 1919 Stein worked as an assistant at Moriz Winternitz. In 1922 he qualified as a professor in Indian philology and has held lectures as a private lecturer ever since. His research focused on ancient Indian language monuments and literary texts. But he also dealt with the Indian religious, legal and social history. On May 27, 1929, he was elected a member of the Research Section of the Oriental Institute in Prague. In this capacity he also edited the Orientální archive (1929) and the Paris bibliography Bouddhique (1930).

After his academic mentor Winternitz retired , Stein was appointed his successor. In 1930 he was appointed associate professor and in 1935 full professor of Indian philology and antiquity. In 1931/1932 Stein undertook a longer lecture and study tour through India. In 1932 he joined the Cultural Advisory Board of the Journal of Indian History .

In the 1930s Stein was one of the world's leading Indologists. However, his career was suddenly interrupted by the political developments of that time. After the annexation of the Sudetenland by the German Reich (1938), the negative mood of the Czech population towards Jewish university teachers increased. Stein and his wife Gertruda traveled to London after the Orientalist Congress in Brussels, where their specialist Herbert Niel Randle offered the couple asylum. The Stein couple accepted the offer, but returned to Prague for the time being to get their affairs in order. Meanwhile, the threat intensified. On January 10, 1939 Otto Stein, like many other Jewish professors, was given leave of absence by the Czech government. The Steins then shipped their belongings to England and applied for an exit visa, but they did not receive a visa and stayed in Prague. After the destruction of the rest of the Czech Republic , Stein was retired by the National Socialists without any income. On October 21, 1941, he and his wife were deported to the Litzmannstadt ghetto ( Łódź ). From there both were to be taken to a concentration camp in the spring of 1942 , but they never got there. Most likely the couple died on the transport. You were pronounced dead in 1947.

Otto Stein's research work was received long after his death. His well-founded and detailed RE article on Megasthenes (1931) remained fundamental.

Fonts (selection)

Editing
  • with Wilhelm Gampert : Festschrift Moriz Winternitz, 1863 - 23 Dec. 1933 . Leipzig 1933
  • with Moriz Winternitz: Indologica Pragensia . Brno 1929ff.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Stein  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Stein, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech indologist
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Saaz (Žatec)
DATE OF DEATH 1942
Place of death unsure: Łódź