Walter Eugene Clark (September 8, 1881 – September 30, 1960), was an American philologist. He was the second

Wales Professor of Sanskrit The position of Wales Professorship of Sanskrit in Harvard University is the first endowed chair for Sanskrit studies established in the United States. Henry Ware Wales (18181856; Harvard, 1838) by a will dated April 24, 1849, provided for the end ...

at Harvard University and editor of the volumes 38-44 of the

Harvard Oriental Series The ''Harvard Oriental Series'' is a book series founded in 1891 by Charles Rockwell Lanman and Henry Clarke Warren. Lanman served as its inaugural editor (1891-1934) for the first 37 volumes. Other editors of the series include Walter Eugene Cl ...

. He translated the

Aryabhatiya ''Aryabhatiya'' (IAST: ') or ''Aryabhatiyam'' ('), a Sanskrit astronomical treatise, is the '' magnum opus'' and only known surviving work of the 5th century Indian mathematician Aryabhata. Philosopher of astronomy Roger Billard estimates that ...

Aryabhata Aryabhata ( ISO: ) or Aryabhata I (476–550 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer of the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. He flourished in the Gupta Era and produced works such as the ''Aryabhatiya'' (which ...

with critical notes which was published in 1930, by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...

Education

Clark was born on September 8, 1881 in

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is an incorporated town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in the historical county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Ba ...

and came to the United States in 1883. Clark received his A.B. in 1903, A.M. in 1904 from Harvard. After receiving his Doctorate from Harvard in 1906, with the dissertation titled "''Quid de rebus Indicis scirent Graeci prisci quaeritur''" he went to Germany to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

to receive further training under the Indologist Richard Pischel. He joined the "Department of Comparative Philology" at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

as the "Instructor in Sanskrit". In 1915, he was promoted to Assistant Professor of the "Department of Comparative Philology, General Linguistics, and Indo-Iranian Philology" and from 1923 to 1927 as Associate Professor of Sanskrit. In 1927 he became the

at Harvard. He held the position until his retirement in 1950. He was the editor of the volumes 38-44 of the

after Charles Lanman. He was a member of the

American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society encourages basi ...

, the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: '' Language'' ...

, the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, and the

Société Asiatique The Société Asiatique (Asiatic Society) is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging ...

. Among his other positions he was appointed the second Master of the Kirkland House (1935–46) on September 1, 1935 succeeding Edward A. Whitney.

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Walter Eugene 1881 births 1960 deaths Harvard University alumni American philologists Harvard University faculty Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century philologists