Justus Olshausen

Justus Olshausen (May 9, 1800 - December 28, 1882) was a German Orientalist and philologist who was a native of Hohenfelde. He was the brother of theologian Hermann Olshausen (1796-1839), and father to gynecologist Robert Michaelis von Olshausen (1835-1915).

Olshausen studied at Kiel, Berlin and Paris, where he was a student of Silvestre de Sacy (1758-1838). From 1830 to 1852 he was a professor at the University of Kiel, where he was appointed curator in 1848. In 1852 he was removed from his position by the Danish government, and he subsequently became a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Königsberg. In 1860 he became a full member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and in 1874 was appointed Counsellor to the Ministry of Education in Berlin.

Olshausen specialized in Semitic and Persian philology, and was a pioneer in Pahlavi studies. Among his written works was an 1861 textbook of Hebrew language, and a critical examination of the Avesta, which is a collection of sacred Zoroastrian texts. Other publications by Olshausen include:
* "Emendationen zum Alten Testament" (Emendation of the Old Testament), 1826
* "Fragments relatifs de la religion de Zoroastre", Paris 1829; (with Julius von Mohl 1800-1876).
* "Catalogue of Arabic and Persian manuscripts of the Royal Library in Copenhagen", 1851
* "Erklärung der Psalmen" (Declaration of Psalms), 1853
* "Prüfung des Charakters der in den assyrischen Keilschriften enthaltenen semitischen Sprache" (Examination of Assyrian cuneiform writings containing Semitic language), 1865

References

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=RTorAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA798&lpg=PA798&dq=%22Justus+Olshausen%22+Mohl&source=web&ots=xINxNaWT24&sig=AcvFDI_QkpQk299MGuL62PjZ5MA&hl=en The New International Encyclopaedia]