Otto von Böhtlingk

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Otto von Böhtlingk

Otto Nicolaus of Böhtlingk (* May 30th . Jul / 11. June  1815 greg. In St. Petersburg ; † 1. April 1904 in Leipzig ) was a linguist and indologist .

life and work

Origin, education, academic career

Otto von Böhtlingk, co-founder of the scientific study of Sanskrit in Germany, was born in St. Petersburg, where his ancestors from Lübeck immigrated in 1713. He studied oriental languages ​​there from 1833, especially Sanskrit, from 1835 in Berlin and Bonn. After his return in 1842 he was appointed adjunct of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, in 1845 a full member of the same; In 1860 he was appointed Real State Councilor and in 1875 Privy Councilor , although he moved his residence and work to Jena in 1868 and has never visited his place of work, the academy, since then.

Sanskrit studies: grammars, collections, dramas, "Petersburg Dictionary" (PW)

His edition of the Sanskrit text of the famous Grammar of Panini (Bonn 1840, 2 vol.), Followed by editions of Vopadeva's grammar (Petersburg 1846) and Hemacandra's dictionary (ibid. 1847) was epoch-making . With his edition and translation of Kalidasa's " Sakuntala " (Bonn 1842) he gave the study of Indian dramas in Germany a solid basis and collected the Indian wisdom in his work "Indian Sayings" (Petersburg 1863–65, 3 vols .; 2. Ed., Containing 7,613 proverbs, 1870–71); No less rich is his “Sanskrit Chrestomathie ”, a collection of reading pieces of various genres for didactic purposes (Petersburg 1845, 2nd edition 1877).

Böhtlingk translated one of the most interesting Indian dramas into German (“Mricchakatika”, Petersburg 1877). His smaller treatises are numerous in the publications of the Imperial Petersburg Academy. His main work, however, which he published in association with Rudolf von Roth in Tübingen with the participation of the most important German Sanskritists, is the "Sanskrit Dictionary" (abbreviated: PW for "Petersburg Dictionary", Petersburg 1855-75, 7 vols.) A place dictionary for which the extremely rich Sanskrit literature of the Vedic and later epochs, known mostly only through manuscripts or unreliable prints, was carefully excerpted and for the first time a historical arrangement of the word meanings was undertaken. Böhtlingk has published a "Sanskrit dictionary in a shorter version" (abbreviated: pw , Petersburg 1879 ff.), In which the German meanings without specifying the places, but at the same time very many words not contained in the large dictionary, partly after messages from others Sanskritists, are indicated.

Philological method, accents, commentators' dispute

Böthlingk was critical of the content of the Sanskrit literature he edited or translated; he judged it more on its philological than on its philosophical-religious value; He thought little of the statements of the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita , core texts of Hinduism , because they are too contradictory. In contrast to the English Sanskritists, he basically did not take into account the "authority of the Indian exegeticals and grammarians", since their explanations (in the words of his colleague Roth) often consisted only of the "most helpless guessing and fumbling around". Böhtlingk considered the interpretations of the Hindu saint and exegete Shankara to be downright "absurd". Instead, he relied solely on the linguistic method, according to which one can only "derive the meaning of the texts themselves". Böhtlingk's introduction of the accents that he added to understand the texts was viewed critically .

Director of the Academy Printing House

In addition to his academic position, Böhtlingk also held the post of director of the Academy printing works with more than 150 employees for 19 years (1849–1868). Attached was a Sanskrit typesetting shop with its own printed letters, casting molds and experienced typesetters. Only with the move to Germany did this additional task cease to exist, as did the not inconsiderable income associated with it.

Linguistic studies: "About the language of the Yakuts"

His work "On the Language of the Yakuts " (Petersburg 1851), which is considered a "milestone in linguistics" and for which Böhtlingk is better known in Russia today than for his Sanskrit studies, was important for the comparative grammar of the Altaic languages . Böhtlingk developed a grammar and a dictionary based on the handwritten collections of the traveler Alexander Theodor von Middendorff and learned the language himself from a Yakut official in his hometown. The St. Petersburg Academy therefore designated him in 1892 as the founder of the philology of the Turkic peoples .

Relocation to Jena and Leipzig in the last few years

Since Böhtlingk was struggling with health problems in St. Petersburg, he asked the academy management for permission to relocate to a milder climate. From 1868 he continued his work from the central German university town of Jena . In 1885 Böhtlingk moved a second time, this time to Leipzig at the request of his third wife , where he spent the last years of his life in lively exchange with specialist colleagues and students, always occupied with writing smaller Indological and linguistic works. Böhtlingk died in 1904 after a long illness at the age of 89 of old age burn ( Gangraena senilis ) in his legs. His fortune at death was only RM 6,274.50 (clothing-furniture library), of which the library alone was valued at RM 6,000.

Personal life, marriages, children, finances

Since the evaluation of his correspondence, Böhtlingk's private and professional life has come to light more clearly than before, which, in view of his hard work, persistence and profound knowledge, had previously been understood only as an "autobiography of his works". Böhtlingk was married four times: 1. to Agnes Hisgen 1838–1846 (8 years; separation / divorce); 2. with Pauline Graefe 1846–1856 (10 years; death of his wife); 3. with Julie Gräfe 1856–1889 (33 years old; wife died); 4. with Anna Frömbter 1889–1904 (15 years, +1921). - The three children Ottilie (1848–1926), Paul (1851–1908) and Helene (1853–1915) came from his marriage to Pauline Gräfe, and from the connection with his long-time housekeeper Anna Frömbter the illegitimate son who was subsequently legitimized by the marriage Nikolai Robert (1883-1923). Today only descendants of Ottilie (in Canada) live.

Through "happy speculations" he succeeded in gaining a second income in addition to the income from his academy work, which enabled him to move to Jena, which was necessary for his health. Although he was not a member of the university and had no inner calling to teach, Böhtlingk was able to maintain scientific and personal friendships with older, same-age and younger colleagues throughout his life thanks to his sociable, unpretentious and thoroughly practical nature. His critical attitude to the work and approach of the competing English Indologists, especially to Max Mueller of German origin , whose tendency towards popularization he disapproved, and to Monier Monier-Williams , who he accused of plagiarizing his "dictionary", did not prevent him from doing so lively exchange of letters also with his opponents.

The question of nationality

While the imperial academy in St. Petersburg consisted largely of foreigners until 1850 (e.g. in Böhtlingk's class of Dutch, Swedes, Germans and French with only one Russian), changed in the wake of the Crimean War and the rise of Russophilia and Pan-Slavism by the end of the century both the composition and the climate at the academy. Böhtlingk, who came from a family with German roots who had lived in St. Petersburg for over a century, did not take Russian citizenship until he was ennobled in 1888. He, who in terms of his religious affiliation was not Russian Orthodox, but Evangelical Lutheran, “might have described himself as a German Petersburg citizen”; the Russian Vigasin called him in 2013 "a German living in Russia". In Jena, Böhtlingk was treated as a Russian State Councilor with a claim to the title of nobility “von”, therefore also as a foreigner and a private scholar .

Memberships, medals and honors

Von Böhtlingk never wore the medals awarded to him (including the Prussian Pour le Mérite , the Italian Ordine della Corona di Ferro , various Russian medals); membership in well-known scientific societies could seldom persuade him to take part in congresses or meetings, as he was reluctant to appear in public. He was a member of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG) since 1846 , 1872–1875 even as a board member, 1855 a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences , since 1886 of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and since 1887 of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .

Quotes, judgments from contemporaries

  • Christian Lassen , associate professor for Indian language and literature in Bonn since 1830, about his student Böthlingk: "He has a lot of hard work, is not lacking in acumen, but does not know how to summarize his results and is easily lost in the details"
  • "That I have so many friends in spite of my polemical disposition may speak in my favor"
  • Böhtlingk on the American Civil War : “'As soon as the news reaches us that the South has been defeated and the principles of humanity have triumphed, I'll have a glass of wine with my friends on the prosperity of the Union. Hopefully we will soon see the barons of the south lay down their arms. '"

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stache-Weiske, p. 180 ff., P. 284.
  2. ↑ Ibid, p. 170.
  3. ↑ Ibid, p. 152 and p. 179
  4. ↑ Stache-Weiske (2017), pp. 119 and 214
  5. ↑ Stache-Weiske (2017) pp. 98, 159 f., VaS 161
  6. ↑ Almost 100 smaller articles were created in the Leipzig years alone; Stache-Weiske (2017), p. 5.
  7. ↑ Ibid., P. 302 f.
  8. ↑ Stache-Weiske (2017)
  9. ^ Letter v. 7.3.1868, cit. according to Stache-Weiske (2017), p. 125.
  10. ↑ Stache-Weiske (2017), p. 13.
  11. ↑ Ibid, footnote 22
  12. ^ Members of the previous academies. Otto Nikolaus von Boehtlingk. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities , accessed on February 24, 2015 .
  13. ^ Members: Otto Nicolaus von Böhtlingk. Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig, accessed on February 24, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Member entry of Otto von Böhtlingk at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on December 29, 2016.
  15. ↑ Ibid., P. 37 Lassen himself was regarded by his students as unprepared, did not give a fluent lecture and loved gossip stories
  16. ↑ Stache-Weiske p. 306
  17. ↑ Ibid, p. 66

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Böhtlingk, Otto von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Böhtlingk, Otto; Böhtlingk, Otto Nicolaus von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German orientalist
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1904
Place of death Leipzig