About
Friedrich Max Müller, born in Dessau in 1823, was a philologist and Indologist who profoundly influenced Oriental studies. After studying Sanskrit in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris, he settled in England in 1846 and became professor of comparative philology at Oxford. He is renowned for his critical edition of the Rig-Veda and for editing the Sacred Books of the East series. He also contributed to the science of religion, while opposing racial interpretations of the term 'Aryan'. Naturalized as British, he was appointed to the Privy Council in 1896.
* 1823-12-06 — † 1900-10-28
Major works
- Rig-Veda (critical edition) (1849-1874)critical edition
- Sacred Books of the East (1879-1910)editorial series
- Lectures on the Science of Language (1861)lectures
- Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873)essay
- Gifford Lectures (1889-1893)lectures
Key milestones
- 1843Earned his PhD at the University of Leipzig.
- 1868Appointed first professor of comparative philology at Oxford.
- 1896Appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Themes
Comparative philologyVedic studiesScience of religionMythologyLanguage and thought
Sources: britannica.com · archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk