Name Albrecht Weber Role Author | Education University of Wroclaw | |
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Died November 30, 1901, Berlin, Germany Books The History of Indian Literature | ||
Albrecht Friedrich Weber (17 February 1825 – 30 November 1901) was a German Indologist and historian.
He was born in Breslau, where his father was a professor of political economy. He studied in that town, Bonn, and in Berlin, 1842-1845, busying himself especially with literature and Sanskrit archaeology. He received a doctor's degree at Breslau. In 1846, he visited England and France in connection with his studies. On his return to Germany, he went to the University of Berlin, where he was privatdocent, and in 1856 became an adjunct professor of the language and literature of ancient India. In 1867 he was made full professor. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin, and was the author of many books and periodical contributions on classical subjects. He was a close friend of Max Müller
He might be one of the earliest Indologists who emphasized the social philosophy of Buddhism. In his opinion "Buddhism is, in its origin, one of the most magnificent and radical reactions in favour of the universal human rights of the individual against the oppressing tyranny of the pretended privileges of divine origin, of birth, and of class."
Weber died in Berlin.
Works
He also contributed much lexicographical material, especially from Vedic literature, to the Sanskrit-Wörterbuch of Otto von Böhtlingk and Rudolf Roth.