Robert Charles Zaehner

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RC Zaehner (1972)

Robert Charles Zaehner (born April 8, 1913 in Kent ( England ), † November 24, 1974 in Oxford ) was professor and lecturer in Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford .

Life

Robert Charles Zaehner was born in Kent, England in 1913 . As a student, Zaehner attended Christ Church in Oxford , where he studied and successfully completed the Greek language , Latin language , Persian language and Avestan language between 1933 and 1937 .

During the Second World War Zaehner worked as a language expert in the intelligence service for the British Special Operations Executive in Iran , there at the British Embassy. His stay in Iran lasted from 1943 to 1947. During this time Robert Charles Zaehner converted to Catholicism , which was to have a formative effect on his life, especially on his professional academic work, not just as a lecturer. After his return from Iran, Zaehner worked in Great Britain from 1947 to 1949 for the Secret Intelligence Service . His area of ​​responsibility lay particularly in the military training of anti-communist Albanians in Malta .

Zaehner became a lecturer in Persian at the University of Oxford from 1950. From 1951 to 1952 he was diplomatically active for Great Britain in the Iranian capital Tehran . After his return, in 1952, Zaehner taught as a professor in Oxford in the field of Eastern Religions and Ethics until his death . Although an expert on Persian, Zaehner critically examined the various religious text traditions of India in relation to Hinduism and compared ethics with the ethics of Catholicism in these . Zaehner also dealt scientifically with the problem of irrationality and rationality , especially with the question of good and evil. Robert Charles Zaehner published several books about his scientific activities.

In 1966 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the British Academy .

literature

  • RC Zaehner: A Zervanite Apocalypse . In: SOAS (Ed.): Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . 10/2, London, 1940, pp. 377-398.
  • RC Zaehner: Zurvan, a Zoroastrian dilemma . Clarendon, Oxford 1955, ISBN 0-8196-0280-9 ).
  • RC Zaehner: The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism . Putnam, New York 1961, ISBN 1-84212-165-0 .
  • RC Zaehner: Teachings of the Magi: Compendium of Zoroastrian Beliefs . Sheldon, New York 1975, ISBN 0-85969-041-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows: Robert Charles Zaehner. British Academy, accessed August 25, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Zaehner, Robert Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British, English linguist, professor and lecturer at Oxford
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Kent , England
DATE OF DEATH November 24, 1974
Place of death Oxford