Joseph von Hammer

Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or ancient origins emphasizing Westernness to modern Greek identity and shared the commonly held view of his time that ancient Greece was culturally intertwined with the Orient, not merely a symbol of an isolated European civilzation.

Life

Born Joseph Hammer in Graz, Duchy of Styria (now Austria), he received his early education mainly in Vienna. Entering the diplomatic service in 1796, he was appointed in 1799 to a position in the Austrian embassy in Istanbul, and in this capacity he took part in the expedition under Admiral William Sidney Smith and General John Hely-Hutchinson against France. In 1807 he returned home from the East, after which he was made a privy councillor.

In 1824 he was knighted (Chevalier).

For fifty years Hammer-Purgstall wrote prolifically on the most diverse subjects and published numerous texts and translations of Arabic, Persian and Turkish authors. He was the first to publish a complete translation of the divan of Hafez into a western language. By traversing so large a field, he laid himself open to the criticism of specialists, and he was severely handled by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (1751–1817), who, in his ''Unfug und Betrug in der morgenländischen Litteratur, nebst vielen hundert Proben von der groben Unwissenheit des H. v. Hammer zu Wien in Sprachen und Wissenschaften'' (1815), devoted to him nearly 600 pages of abuse. He also came into friendly conflict on the subject of the origin of '' The Thousand and One Nights'' with his younger English contemporary Edward William Lane.

Hammer-Purgstall supported the foundation of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and became the Academy's first president (1847–1849). The Austrian Oriental Society, founded in 1959 to foster cultural relations with the Near East, is formally named 'Österreichische Orient-Gesellschaft Hammer-Purgstall' in recognition of Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall's accomplishments.

In 1847 he received a medal commissioned by a friend of his, Ludwig August von Frankl. The reverse references some of his works in pictures.

He died in Vienna on 23 November 1856.

Works

Hammer-Purgstall's principal work is his ''Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches'' (10 vols., Pest, 1827–35; revised edition in 4 vols., 1834–6; reprinted 1840). Among his other works are:
* "Ancient Alphabets & Hieroglyphic Characters Explained" (1806)
* ''Geschichte der schönen Redekünste Persiens mit einer Blüthenlese aus zweyhundert persischen Dichtern'' (Vienna, 1818)
* ''Morgenländisches Kleeblatt'' (Vienna, 1819)
* ''Constantinopolis und der Bosporos'' (1822)
* ''Sur les origines russes'' (St Petersburg, 1825)
* an English language translation (1834) of the first two volumes of Evliya Çelebi's travelogue '' Seyahatname''
* ''The History of the Assassins'' trans. O. C. Wood (London, 1835), an English language translation of ''Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen (Stuttgart und Tübingen, 1818)''
* ''Geschichte der osmanischen Dichtkunst'' (1836)
* ''Geschichte der Goldenen Horde in Kiptschak'' (1840)

''Geschichte der Ilchane, das ist der Mongolen in Persien''2 vols.
Darmstadt, 1842)
* ''Geschichte der Chane der Krim'' (1856)
* an unfinished ''Litteraturgeschichte der Araber'' (1850–1856)
* a four-volume biography of Melchior Cardinal Khlesl titled ''Khlesls, des Cardinals Leben. Mit der Sammlung von Khlesls Briefen und anderen Urkunden'' (4 vols., 1847–1851).

For a comprehensive list of his works see Constantin Schlottmann, ''Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall'', Zurich 1857.

For a biographical account of Hammer's life, see Walter Höflechner, ''Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall 1774-1856: ein altösterreichisches Gelehrtenleben. Eine Annäherung'', Graz 2021.

Family

Hammer married Caroline von Henikstein (1797–1844), the daughter of Austrian Jewish financier Joseph von Henikstein in 1816. In 1835, upon inheriting the estates of the Countess Purgstall (née Jane Anne Cranstoun), the widow of his late friend Gottfried Wenzel von Purgstall, he acquired the title ''Freiherr'' and changed his family name to Hammer-Purgstall.Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall
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See also

* Baphomet

References

Sources

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von
1774 births
1856 deaths
Writers from Graz
Barons of Austria
Austrian explorers
Austrian orientalists
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)