Theodore Bibliander

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Theodore (or Theodorus) Bibliander (1506-1564), Swiss Orientalist, publisher, and linguist. Born Theodor Buchmann (Bibliander is a Greek translation of this surname), in Zurich, he studied Latin under Oswald Myconius, and Greek and Hebrew under Jakob Ceporin, and attended lectures in Basel between 1525-7 given by Johannes Oekolampad and Konrad Pelikan. He also became familiar with the Arabic language and other languages from the East; he became a professor of theology. He published a Hebrew grammar in 1535, and commentaries on the Bible. He published a translation of the Qur'an in 1543, which included Doctrina Machumet, a translation of the Arabic theological tract known as the Book of a Thousand Questions. Considered the father of biblical exegesis in Switzerland, Bibliander became involved in a doctrinal controversy with Pietro Martire Vermigli (Peter Martyr) over predestination; he was removed from his theological professorship in 1560. He died of the plague.