Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner

Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner or Gottlieb William Leitner M.A., Ph.D., L.L.D., D.O.L. (14 October 1840 – 22 March 1899) was a British orientalist.

Leitner, at the age of 21, whilst a professor at King's College, London. Taken from the Strand Magazine, 1894.

Early life and education

Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner was born in Pest, Hungary, on 14 October 1840 to a Jewish family.[1] His mother was Marie Henriette Herzberg. His father, Leopold Saphir, died when Gottlieb was young and his mother then married Johann Moritz Leitner. Gottlieb and his sister Elisabeth (the mother of British politician Leopold Amery) were thereafter known as Leitner.[2]

As a child Leitner showed an extraordinary ability in languages. At the age of eight he went to Constantinople to learn Arabic and Turkish, and by the age of ten he was fluent in Turkish, Arabic and most European languages. At fifteen, he was appointed Interpreter (First Class) to the British Commissariat in the Crimea, with the rank of colonel. When the Crimean War ended, he wanted to become a priest and went to study at King's College London.

It is also reported that during his tour of Muslim countries he adopted a Muslim name of Abdur Rasheed Sayyah. Sayyah in Arabic means a traveller.

As a linguist, he is said to have had acquaintance with some fifty languages, many of which he spoke fluently. At nineteen, he became lecturer in Arabic, Turkish and Modern Greek, and at twenty-three was appointed Professor in Arabic and Muslim Law at King's College London.

Three years later, sometime in 1864, he became Principal of Government College University (Lahore) (then British India, present day Pakistan). He was instrumental in the foundation of the University of the Punjab. He founded many schools, literary associations, public libraries and academic journals, while at the same time dedicating himself to the study of the cultures of the Indian subcontinent. During this period he wrote a scholarly and comprehensive book in Urdu, History of Islam, in two volumes, with the help of an Urdu Muslim scholar, Maulvi Karim-ud-Din, who was at that time District Inspector of Schools in Amritsar, Punjab. These two volumes were later published in 1871 and 1876. Following the passage of the Royal Titles Act 1876 which declared Queen Victoria Empress of India, Prof. Leitner coined the title Kaysar-i-Hind as the new Empress' official title.

Leitner, at the age of 26, dressed in native costume whilst exploring Dardistan. Taken from the Strand Magazine, 1894.

He retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1886.

Return to Europe

He returned to Europe in the late 1870s to pursue studies at Heidelberg University (Germany), and he also undertook work for the Austrian, Prussian, and British Governments. His ambition now was to found a centre for the study in Europe of Oriental languages, culture and history. On his return to England in 1881, he sought a suitable site for his proposed institution, and in 1883 came upon the vacant Royal Dramatic College in Woking, a building admirably suited for the purpose.

For the benefit of Muslim students, Leitner commissioned the construction of a mosque. The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in 1889 as one of the first mosques in Western Europe and the first purpose-built one in Britain, and survives to this day. It was built in Indo-Saracenic style, named after from Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal (1868–1901).[3]

Shah Jahan Begum made sizable donations towards the building of the mosque and also contributed generously towards the founding of the "Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College" at Aligarh, which developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.

Inscription on the tomb of Dr G.W. Leitner

Leitner's tomb in Brookwood Cemetery

Dr. Leitner is buried at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking.[4]

THE LEARNED ARE HONOURED IN THEIR WORK


GOTTLIEB WILLIAM LEITNER
ORIENTAL INSTITUTE WOKING
BORN 14TH OCTOBER 1840 AT BUDAPEST
DIED 22ND MARCH 1899 AT BONN
________________________

LINA OLYMPIA LEITNER
HIS WIFE
DIED 24TH MAY 1912 IN LONDON
AGED 64 BONN
________________________

The Lord is my shepherd therefore can I lack nothing.
Yea, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. (Ps. XXIII)
________________________

Al-‘ilmu khayrum min al-maali

HENRY LEITNER
Only son
Born Lahore 1869 – Died London 1945

Major works

References

  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  • http://www.wokingmuslim.org/pers/dr_leitner.htm
  • Muhammad Ikram Chaghatai: Writings of Dr. Leitner: Islam, education, Dardistan, politics and culture of Northern areas. Comp. by Muhammad Ikram Chaghatai. Lahore: Government College Research and Publ. Society; Sang-e-Meel Publ., 2002. ISBN 969-35-1306-1
  • J. FL Stocqueler, Life and Labors of Dr Leitner (1875)
  • "Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives", The Strand Magazine, Volume VII, January–June 1894
  • William Rubinstein, The secret of Leopold Amery, Historical Research, vol. 73, no. 181 (June 2000), 175–196.
  1. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "registered with the Jewish community of Pest"; Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ Rubinstein
  3. ↑ http://islam.ru/en/content/story/first-mosque-uk-was-built-jew
  4. ↑ "Dr G W Leitner". Necropolis Notables. The Brookwood Cemetery Society. Retrieved 2007-02-23.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leitner, Gottlieb Wilhelm". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 404. 

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