Sándor Kőrösi Csoma

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Alexander Csoma de Kőrös
Born March 27, 1784[1]
Kőrös, Transylvania
Died April 11, 1842
Darjeeling, India
Occupation Linguist, philologist, traveler.

Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, also known as Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, born Csoma Sándor (March 27, 1784[2] - April 11, 1842), was a Hungarian philologist, born in Kőrös, Transylvania, who attempted to trace the origin of the Magyar ethnic group. His birth date is often credited as April 4, wich is literally his baptism day. He set out for the East in 1820, and after much hardship along the way, arrived in Ladakh. Under great privation there, despite being aided by the English government, he devoted himself to the study of the Tibetan language. In 1831, he settled in Calcutta, where he compiled his Tibetan Grammar and Dictionary and catalogued the Tibetan works in the library of the Asiatic Society. He died in Darjeeling just as he was setting out for fresh discoveries. He is said to have been able to read in seventeen languages. De Kőrös is widely seen as the founder of Tibetology.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Youth in Transylvania

He was born into a poor Székely family, as the sixth child of András Csoma and his wife, Krisztina Getse. His father served with the Border Guard.

  • He is baptized on 1784 April 4.
  • In 1790, he begins attending the local elementary school.
  • In 1799, he walked to Nagyenyed (present day Aiud) with his fater to join the boarding school Bethlen Kollégium. He has worked small jobs in order to earn his tuition and support himself.
  • He finishes his highschool studiesin 1807, and continues at the university level.
  • In 1815 he finishes his studies at the Bethlen Kollégium. Travels to Vienna, and - as it was usual at the time - continues his studies in Germany. After a short stay in Heidelberg, Csoma carries on to Göttingen.

[edit] Studies in Göttingen

[edit] Eastward bound

[edit] Middle East, Central Asia

  • He arrives to Constantinople on 1820 February 7, but has to leave soon due to an epidemic. He sails to Alexandria, where he stays with a blacksmith named Schaffer of Austrian origin. He wanted to study Arabic in Egypt, but forced again to leave due to the spread of the epidemic.
  • In 1820 March 15, he sails to Latakia via Cyprus, Beirut and Tripoli. From Latakia, he continues on foot.
  • Csoma arrives to Aleppo on April 13, where he stayed for a month.
  • Joining a caravan, he arrives to Mosul on May 19, and continues to Baghdad, arriving there on June 21st.
  • In Baghdad, he stays for six weeks as he guest of Anton Swoboda, a Slovak living there. Swoboda supports Csoma with money and clothing.
  • He arrives to Tehran on October 14, where he stayed for a longer period, perfecting his English and Persian. His spradic correspondence with Hungary stops here, his friends presume him lost. He leaves his documents in Tehran, and travels under the Turkish name of Skender bey.
  • He arrives to Meshed in 1821 April 18, and he is unable to continue for six months due to the war. He leaves for Bukhara on October 20.
  • Csoma crosses the Hindu Kush mountains on January 6 , reaches Kabul, where he turns south. He meets French officers in the Halbar Pass and joined them to Peshavar and Lahore. Finally, he arrived to Srinagar, after visiting Amritsar and Jammu.

[edit] Ladakh

Near the Kashmir border he met Moorcroft who encouraged him to study Tibetan. He lived in Ladakh on a stipend from the British government fom 1827 to 1831. In 1834 he was made an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society.

[edit] India

[edit] Works by de Kőrös

  • Essay towards a dictionary, Tibetan and English.' Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.
  • Grammar of the Tibetan language. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.
  • Sanskrit-Tibetan-English vocabulary: being an edition and translation of the Mahāvyutpatti. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.

[edit] Works About de Kőrös

  • Life and works of Alexander Csoma de Körös a biography compiled chiefly from hitherto unpublished data : with a frief notice of each of his unpublished works and essays, as well as of his still extant manuscripts. Theodore Duka. London: Trübner, 1885.
  • Hermit-hero from Hungary, Alexander Csoma de Koros, the great Tibetologist. Hirendra Nath Mukerjee. New Delhi: Light & Life Publishers, 1981.
  • Alexandre Csoma de Kőrös. Bernard Le Calloch̓. Paris: La nouvelle revue tibétaine, 1985.
  • The Hungarian Who Walked to Heaven (Alexander Csoma de Koros 1784-1842). Edward Fox. Short Books, 2001.

[edit] Catalogue of the de Kőrös Collection

  • Collection of Tibetan mss. and xylographs of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös. József Terjék. Budapest : Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtára, 1976.

[edit] External link

  1. ^ Short bio and works (hungarian)
  2. ^ Short bio and works (hungarian)

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.

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