Thomas Greaves (Orientalist)

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Thomas Greaves (born 1611 in Colemore , Hampshire , † May 22, 1676 in Weldon , Northamptonshire ) was an English orientalist .

Life

Thomas Greaves was the third of four sons of Pastor John Greaves (1579-1617) and his wife Sara Greaves († 1640). His three brothers were the mathematician and antiquarian John Greaves , the clergyman Nicholas Greaves and the doctor Edward Greaves . For his early education, Thomas Greaves, whose exterior is said to have been unsightly, attended Charterhouse School . He then devoted himself to theology and began his studies in March 1627 at Corpus Christi College (Oxford) . After acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of his discipline, he was made a fellow of this college in 1636 and, in the following year, during the absence of the famous orientalist Edward Pococke, he was appointed assistant professor of Arabic . In 1641 he obtained the academic degree of a Bachelor of Theology.

First Greaves was given a parish at Dunsby near Sleaford in Lincolnshire and then another near London in the last few years before the Stuart Restoration . In 1648 he made an affidavit in favor of his brother John Greaves when he was dismissed from his professorship at Merton College . In 1661 he was promoted to doctor of theology . In October 1666 he was charged with a benefice of Peterborough Cathedral considered. At that time he was also pastor of Benefield in Northamptonshire. He had to give up this post a few years before his death because his parishioners were dissatisfied with him because, despite his scholarship, he could no longer give a tolerable sermon due to a language disorder . In the last years of his life he retired to Weldon, Northamptonshire, where he had bought an estate, and died there on May 22, 1676 at the age of about 65. He was buried in the choir of the Church of Weldon.

Even after he stopped working as a teacher, Greaves had continued his studies in oriental literature and had correspondence with famous scholars in this field, including John Selden , Richard Baxter and Abraham Wheelocke , concerning his scientific work and plans. His speech on the excellence and usefulness of the Arabic language ( De linguae Arabicae utilitate et praestantia oratio , 1637), which he had given during his teaching post on July 19, 1637, in Oxford , was praised as the model of an equally learned and intelligent lecture. His thorough knowledge of the Persian language is demonstrated by his notes, written in this language and translated into Latin by Samuel Clarke, on the Persian translation of the Pentateuch and the Gospels in the sixth volume of the Polyglot (London 1657) published by Brian Walton . He also intended to write a detailed work on the Koran to refute the dogmas and morals of Muslims, but was prevented from doing so by various professional work.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ GJ Toomer: Greaves, Thomas , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) online.
personal data
SURNAME Greaves, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English orientalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1611
PLACE OF BIRTH Colemore , Hampshire
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1676
Place of death Weldon , Northamptonshire