William Nassau Lees

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William Nassau Lees ( February 26, 1825 - March 9, 1889 ) was a British officer in the Indian Army, orientalist, historian and the fourth son of Sir Harcourt Lees.

Live and act

Lees received his education at Nut Grove and Trinity College in Dublin , but did not graduate there. In 1846 he joined the 42nd Bengal Native Infantry as a cadet. In 1853 he was promoted to lieutenant, in September 1858 to captain, in June 1865 to major, lieutenant-colonel in 1868 , colonel in 1876 and major-general in 1885 . Later he was director of the Mohammedan Collage, Calcutta , where he also worked as a professor of law, logic, literature and mathematics. He also worked as a government translator for the Persian and Arabic languages , as well as for various newspapers. He received several academic degrees, including the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Berlin.

In 1868 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1872 he became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. Lees died in his residence on Grosvenor Street, London, at the age of 64.

Works (selection)

  • The drain of silver to the East, and the currency of India . WH Allen, London 1864.
  • The land and labor of India, a review . Williams and Norgate, London / Edinburgh 1867.
  • Tea cultivation, cotton and other agricultural experiments in India. A review . WH Allen, London 1863.
  • A biographical sketch of the mystic philosopher and poet Jami: being the preface to his “Lives of the mystics” . WN Lees' Press, Calcutta 1859.
  • W. Nassau Lees, Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay, M. Garcin de Tassy: Indian Musalmáns - being three letters reprinted from the “Times” - with an article on the late Prince Consort and four articles on education reprinted from the “Calcutta Englishman” - with an appendix containing Lord Macaulay's minute . Williams and Norgate, London 1871.

literature

  • Youssef M. Choueiri: A Companion to the History of the Middle East . John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p. 109

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 177.
  2. ^ HMC:  Lees, William Nassau . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 32:  Lambe - Leigh. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1892, p. 395 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Lees, William Nassau
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nassau-Lees, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British orientalist, officer and historian
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1825
DATE OF DEATH March 9, 1889