Friedrich (von) Spiegel (11 July 1820 in

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

– 15 December 1905 in

München Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) was a German orientalist. He was one of the pioneers in the field of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

, and as such a major influence on the works of German 19th century philologist and philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

Biography

von Spiegel was born in

, studied at

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, then spent five years in the libraries of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and from 1849 to 1890 was professor of oriental languages in the University of Erlangen. His early studies on

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

and the publication of the ''Kammavâkya'' (1841) and the ''Anecdota Palica'' (1845) did much for the knowledge of southern

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. They were quickly followed by his researches on

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

and the

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

. The edition of the greater part of the extant Avesta, together with the

Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah of ...

translation (1853–58), was followed by a German version (1852–63), and supplemented by a commentary (1865–69). von Spiegel published a number of Persian works, as well as grammars of the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

and Old

Bactrian language Bactrian (, , meaning "Iranian") was an Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan and the Hephthalite empires. Name It was long tho ...

s. He also published several valuable linguistic and archaeological works, ''Die altpersischen Keilinschriften'' (1862), ''Erân'' (1863), ''Erânische Altertumskunde'' (1871–78), ''Vergleichende Grammatik der alterânischen Sprachen'' (1882), and ''Die arische Periode und ihre Zustände'' (1887).

Literary works

* ''Kammavâkya'' (Bonn, 1841) * ''Anecdota palica'' (Leipzig, 1845) * ''Kommentar über das Avesta'' (Leipzig, 1865–69, 2 vols.) * ''Grammatik der altbaktrischen Sprache'' (Leipzig, 1867) * ''Chrestomathia persica'' (Leipzig, 1845) * ''Grammatik der Pârsisprache'' (Leipzig, 1851) * ''Einleitung in die traditionellen Schriften der Parsen'' (Leipzig, 1856–60, 2 vols.) * ''Die altpersischen Keilinschriften im Grundtext, mit Übersetzung, Grammatik und Glossar'' (Leipzig, 1862, 2nd ed. 1881) * ''Erân, das Land zwischen dem Indus und Tigris'' (Berlin, 1863) * ''Arische Studien'' (Leipzig, 1873) * ''Erânischen Altertumskunde'' (Leipzig, 1871–78, 3 vols.) * ''Vergleichende Grammatik der alterânischen Sprachen'' (Leipzig, 1882) * ''Die arische Periode und ihre Zustände'' (Leipzig, 1887) * “Beiträgen zur vergleichenden Sprachforschung,” in ''Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiegel, Friedrich 1820 births 1905 deaths People from Kitzingen Old Persian language German orientalists University of Bonn alumni Translators from Old Persian Translators from Avestan 19th-century German translators 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers