Hans Heinrich Schaeder Explained

Hans Heinrich Schaeder
Birth Date:31 January 1896
Birth Place:Göttingen, German Empire
Death Place:Göttingen, West Germany
Nationality:German
Main Interests:Manichaeism

Heinz Heinrich Schaeder (31 January 1896 – 13 March 1957) was a German Orientalist and Iranologist.

Life

Heinz Heinrich Schaeder was born in Göttingen, Germany on 31 January 1896. He was the son of theologist Erich Schaeder, brother of historian Hildegard Schaeder and cousin of theologian Günter Lüling. Raised in a strict fashion by his father, Schaeder studied classical philology at the University of Kiel since 1914. During World War, he served in the German Army. He continued his studies in classical philology at Kiel under Werner Jaeger. Under the influence of historian Fritz Kern, Lommel developed an interest in the Middle east. Completing "all his academic degrees in an incredibly short time", Schaeder gained his Ph.D. at Kiel in 1919 with a thesis on the Islamic theologian Hasan al-Basri. He completed his habilitation in 1922 with a thesis on the Persian poet Hafez.

In the 1920s, German Iranian studies was dominated by Friedrich Carl Andreas and Christian Bartholomae, but Schaeder belonged to neither of those schools. Instead, he gained his introduction to the subject through Carl Heinrich Becker and Josef Markwart. From 1922 to 1926, Schaeder was a professor at the University of Breslau. Schaeder considered these years the most productive of his career. He "acquired an amazing knowledge" of Semitic, Iranian and Turkic languages, and of philosophy, religious science and general linguistics. Several works of importance were written at this time.

From 1926 to 1931, Schaeder was a professor at the University of Königsberg. He was also briefly a professor at the University of Leipzig during this time. Upon the death of Markwart in 1930, Schaeder was appointed Chair of Iranian and Armenian Philology at the University of Berlin. He occupied this position from 1931 to 1944. Schaeder symphatized with Nazism, but was always respectful towards his Jewish colleagues.

Since 1944, Schaeder served as Chair of Oriental Philology and Religious History at the University of Göttingen. Throughout his career, Schaeder published more than 260 scholarly books and articles. His most important contributions were to the study of Manichaeism. As a professor he was known for his powerful oratory and high demands on his students. Annemarie Schimmel and were among his students. Schaeder died in Göttingen on 13 March 1957.

Selected works

See also

Sources