Wilhelm Geiger Explained

Wilhelm Ludwig Geiger (; pronounced as /de/; 21 July 1856 – 2 September 1943) was a German Orientalist in the fields of Indo-Iranian languages and the history of Iran and Sri Lanka. He was known as a specialist in Pali, Sinhala language and the Dhivehi language of the Maldives. He is especially known for his work on the Sri Lankan chronicles Mahāvaṃsa and Cūlavaṃsa and made critical editions of the Pali text and English translations with the help of assistant translators.

Life

He was born in Nuremberg, the son of an evangelical clergyman, and was educated especially at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg under the scholar Friedrich von Spiegel.[1] During his studies, he joined the fraternity Uttenruthia. After completing his Ph.D. thesis in 1878, he became a lecturer on ancient Iranian and Indian philology and then a master at a gymnasium. In 1891 he was offered a chair in Indo-European Comparative Philology at the University of Erlangen, succeeding Spiegel. His first published works were on ancient Iranian history, archaeology and philology.

He travelled to Ceylon in 1895 to study the language.[2] [3]

He died in Neubiberg.

Among his children were included the physicist Hans Geiger, inventor of the Geiger counter, and the meteorologist Rudolf Geiger.

Works

English works and translations

German works

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Geiger, Wilhelm. 1905.
  2. Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson (1988), The Break-up of Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict, p. 29; http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/07/17/fea01.html
  3. He appeared on a stamp in Sri Lanka, in 1989 (see Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka).