Reinhold Rost

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Ernst Reinhold Rost (born February 2, 1822 in Eisenberg (Thuringia) , † February 7, 1896 in Canterbury , Kent ) was an English orientalist and librarian of German origin.

Reinhold Rost (1822–1896), portrait with signature, around 1890

life and work

Origin, education

Reinhold Rost came from a Protestant-Lutheran pastor's family and after graduating from high school in Altenburg in 1842 studied at the University of Jena for practical reasons first theology, but then oriental languages. In 1847 he completed a doctorate (unpublished) work on the Sinhala language to Dr. phil. and then moved to England looking for a job.

Language teacher in England

Initially a German teacher at King's School in Canterbury, the oldest surviving school in the world (founded in 597 AD), he was appointed lecturer in Oriental languages at St. Augustine's Missionary College in 1851 , where he trained young people as missionaries , one position that he held until his death.

Chief Librarian of the India Office Library

In 1863, for the sake of his future wife, Rost turned down appointments to Bombay and Saint Petersburg and instead became secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in London and in 1869 head librarian (chief librarian) of the India Office ( India Office Library ), which since 1858 ( until 1947) was entrusted with the administration of British India . Associated with this was the move to London, from where he commuted to his various teaching assignments by train.

linguistic proficiency

Rost's extensive knowledge of European, Asian, African and other living and dead languages, etc. a. in addition to English , Portuguese , Italian , Russian , Latin , Ancient Greek , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , Sanskrit , Pali , Prakrit , Hindustani ( Urdu ), Marathi , Old Bactrian , Persian , Armenian , Syriac , Arabic , Assyrian , Hebrew , Swahili , Malagasy (Malagasy) , Turkish , Chinese , Burmese , Tibetan , Thai , Malay or Polynesian and Inuit , some of which he taught at college and in which he talked to his students from all over the world, enabled him to read manuscripts, especially palm leaf manuscripts, and Read, record and catalog printed works of the India Office Library and the Imperial Public Library Saint Petersburg for the first time.

activity

Rost created a catalog for the previously unorganized holdings of the India Office Library, which were only surpassed in size and quality by that of the British Museum , opened it up for students and expanded the holdings, always supported by the management of the Ministry ( Secretary of State for India ), decisive through acquisitions. His house, since 1878 1 Elsworthy Terrace, Primrose Hill, London , has been open to domestic and foreign visitors and guests at all times, including - during his stay in London - the Filipino freedom hero José Rizal as a friend and "almost daily guest" .

Retirement, succession

In 1893 Rost retired after 24 years of service at the age of 71; his successor as senior librarian was the Sanskritist , educator and orientalist Charles Henry Tawney (1837-1922), former head of the Presidency College in Calcutta and translator of the Kathasaritsagara , who, however, did not have the broad linguistic competence of a rust.

Correspondence, contributions and honors

Rost did not leave his own monographs , partly due to a lack of time and partly due to a lack of money; Linguistic works were very expensive because of the fonts. However, Rost led extensive correspondence, was a member of several European scientific institutions, was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire CIE and was an honorary doctor. He worked on the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (articles "Malay Language and Literature", "Pali", "Rajah", "Thugs" as well as numerous biographical, cultural and linguistic contributions) and on various journals (including Trübner's Record , The Athenaeum , The Academy , The American Record ), wrote reviews for Luzac's "Oriental List" and worked as an editor of compilations on India and Southeast Asia as well as by the creation of registers and directories, etc. a. to Burnell's directory of the manuscripts in the palace of Tanjavur in South India.

Freemasonry

Rost had been a Freemason of the Gera Archimedes Lodge without interruption since 1846 .

Family, character

Since 1863 Rost was married to Minna Laue from Magdeburg (* 1836), the daughter of a deceased judge; The marriage resulted in seven children: 1864 Lorchen (mentally handicapped, † Diakonie Stetten 1895), 1865 Auguste Berta, called Daisy (marriage 1890), 1867 Adolf (sculptor), 1868 Isabella (died early), 1870 Minna, 1872 Ernst, 1875 Klärchen (died early).

Son Ernst

The son Ernst (Ernest) Reinhold Rost (* 1872) became a military doctor with the rank of major at the Indian Medical Service (IMS) and headed the Yangon General Hospital in Rangoon ( Yangon ), Burma ( Myanmar ), which was newly founded in 1899 , where he mainly worked made a contribution to leprosy research. On his return to London, he became Honorary Secretary of the International Buddhist Society for the cause of Buddhism . Ernst's godfather was the orientalist and Sanskrit scholar Arthur Coke Burnell (1840–1882)

Rost was considered to be extremely eloquent, strong-willed and hard-working, at the same time approachable, extremely patient and helpful. His "Rostheim" was characterized by musical performances and hospitality.

death

Rust died of a heart attack on the way to work in Canterbury .

Quotes

  • One of the greatest linguists of the age ; Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906
  • According to his own words, to his peers he was often father and mother at the same time ; Weise 1897, p. 65.

literature

  • Oskar Weise: The orientalist Dr. Reinhold Rost, his life and his striving. Leipzig: Teubner 1897. 71 p. (Communications from the history and antiquity research association in Eisenberg).
  • Bruno Baentsch :  Rost, Ernst Reinhold . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 53, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1907, pp. 525-529.
  • Ernst Windisch : History of Sanskrit Philology and Indian Classical Studies . Berlin. New York: de Gruyter 1992. Chapter Lvii, p. 361 ff.
  • ANWollaston: Rost, Reinhold , revised by JB Katz. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB), Vol. 47 (2004), p. 883
  • CEBuckland: Dictionary of Indian Biography . London 1906. p. 364

Remarks

  1. ↑ Weise 1897, p. 1.
  2. ↑ Windisch, Geschichte, p. 361
  3. ↑ 1851 according to ODNB and Buckland, Dictionary, after Windisch, Geschichte, p. 361 but not until 1853
  4. ↑ Windisch, Geschichte, p. 361
  5. ↑ Language skills according to Windisch, Geschichte, p. 361, Buckland, Dictionary, p. 364 and Weise, p.3,19,23,24,26,63
  6. ↑ Weise 1897, pp. 49, 65
  7. ↑ Weise 1897, p. 48.
  8. ↑ Weise 1897, p. 70.
  9. ↑ In 1892, Hermann Hesse was also temporarily housed in Stetten because of a mood disorder
  10. ^ 1897 p.55
  11. ↑ Yangon General Hospital website
  12. ↑ 1903–1908 Buddhasasana Samagama ( International Buddhist Society ), founded in Rangoon on the initiative of the British monk Ananda Metteya. The Society was to become a missionary order for the Occident with the purpose of making Buddhist teaching known and promoting the study of Pali for an understanding of the Buddhist canon. Journal (1903 - ???): Buddhism , ed. by Ananda Metteya and Ernst Rost. Only five issues appeared; Payer, Materials on Neo-Buddhism
  13. ^ Letter from Burnell to Rost dated 3.2.1876 (University Library of Tübingen); Rost's obituary for Burnell in Athenaeum 2870, p.63 BC. 10/28/1882
  14. ↑ Weise 1897, pp. 62–71 "Characteristics"
  15. ↑ Weise 1897, p. 61.
personal data
SURNAME Rust, Reinhold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rost, Ernst Reinhold (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English orientalist and librarian of German origin
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH Eisenberg (Thuringia)
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1896
Place of death Canterbury , Kent