Theophilus (Gottlieb) Siegfried Bayer (1694–1738) was a German

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

with specialization in

Sinology Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...

. He was a

Sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

and professor of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Roman Antiquities Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

St Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

between 1726 and 1737.

Personal details

Bayer was a native of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. His father Johann Friedrich was from the German Protestant minority in Hungary, but had moved to East Prussia, where he worked as a painter. The youthful T. S. Bayer was an excellent student at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

, studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was a

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Königsberg Cathedral Königsberg Cathedral (; ) is a Brick Gothic-style monument in Kaliningrad, Russia, located on Kneiphof island in the Pregolya river. It is the most significant preserved building of the former city of Königsberg, which was largely destroyed in ...

from 1721 to 1726, and also worked as a librarian at the

Königsberg Public Library Public Library and Archive in Kneiphof Stamp of the library The Königsberg Public Library () was a public library in Königsberg, Germany. Background The library developed from the personal collection of Johannes Poliander, who donated it to ...

Bayer collection

He had a library of more than 200 manuscripts, Chinese and other

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

al books, including: *

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and spread to ot ...

s * Oriental history and

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 ...

-related notes * Correspondence with

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

. After his death in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

his widow handed over his books and papers to the academy authorities, receiving the rest of her husband's pay due that year. The library was later sold to a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

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 ...

, Heinrich Walter Gerdes. William Hunter later purchased the collection from Gerdes' widow. It finally reached the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1807 with a brief stay in

with Dr Matthew Baillie, Hunter's nephew.

Works

* Historia regni Graecorum bactriani History of the Kingdom of the Bactrian Greeks *

Manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. * De Eclipsi Sinica published in 1718. * Museum Sinicum, a two-volume compendium of materials on the Chinese language published in 1730 (Google Books
volume 1volume 2
. * Works on the history of Russia, including ''De Varagis'' (1729) and ''Origines russicae'' (1736).Serhii Plokhy, ''Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), chapter 1.

References

External links

Transferring linguistic knowledge from Asia to Europe. T. S. Bayer’s reception of Indian missionary grammars.

T.S. Bayer, 1694-1738 : pioneer sinologist - Author: Knud Lundbæk

Manuscripts - Collections relating to Theophilus Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer

Visitors from Guangxhou, China - The tour was rounded off with a visit to Special Collections to view a display of Chinese material which included part of the collection of Theophilus Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738), sinologist.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Theophilus Siegfried 1694 births 1738 deaths 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers German librarians German numismatists German orientalists German philologists German sinologists Writers from Königsberg People from East Prussia Russian orientalists Russian philologists Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Religious studies scholars German male non-fiction writers