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Charles Pierre Henri Rieu (June 8, 1820 – March 19, 1902) was a Swiss orientalist, for many years Professor of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.


Biography

Rieu was born in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
, and studied at
Bonn University The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
, where he studied Arabic under
Georg Freytag Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Freytag (19 September 1788 – 16 November 1861) was a German philologist. Background Freytag was born in Lüneburg. He studied philology and theology at the University of Göttingen, where from 1811 to 1813 he wor ...
and
Johann Gildemeister Johann Gildemeister (20 July 1812 – 11 March 1890) was a German Orientalist born in Kröpelin. Biography He studied Oriental languages and theology at the Universities of Göttingen and Bonn and graduated from the latter institution in 1838. F ...
, and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
with
Christian Lassen Christian Lassen (22 October 1800 – 8 May 1876) was a Norwegian-born, German orientalist and Indologist. He was a professor of Old Indian language and literature at the University of Bonn. Biography He was born at Bergen, Norway where he att ...
. He received his doctorate in 1843. He entered the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1847, and after twenty years of service, a new post, that of Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts, was created for him. He was a Professor of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
and Persian at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
. In 1895 he was made professor of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
in the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, with the full title "
Sir Thomas Adams Professor of Arabic Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic is a title used at Cambridge University for the holder of a professorship of Arabic; Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1668), Lord Mayor of London in 1645, gave to Cambridge University the money needed t ...
", in succession to Robertson Smith. Rieu died in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on 19 March 1902. He was the father of
E. V. Rieu Emile Victor Rieu CBE (10 February 1887 – 11 May 1972) was a British classicist, publisher, poet and translator. He initiated the Penguin Classics series of books in 1946 and edited it for twenty years. Biography Rieu was born in London, the ...
.


Publications

Rieu completed in 1871 the second part, dealing with Arabic manuscripts, of the ''Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium'', which had been begun by William Cureton, and he issued a supplementary volume in 1894. He also drew up a ''Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts'' (1888) and a ''Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts'' (4 vols, 1879–95),Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British museum (1879)
/ref> the latter being a storehouse of information on the books and their authors.


References

* 1820 births 1902 deaths Swiss Arabists University of Bonn alumni Swiss orientalists Sir Thomas Adams's Professors of Arabic Writers from Geneva Employees of the British Museum Academics of University College London {{switzerland-linguist-stub