David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer

Lieutenant-Colonel David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer (December 24, 1876 in Dundee-1962) was a member of the British Indian Army, a political official in the British Indian government and a noted linguist. ^[1] The Indian Political Service extended to the Middle East, and he was British Political Representative in Cairo during the First World War.^[2]

Leben

Lorimer was born near Dundee and was the son of a Presbyterian clergyman Robert Lorimer and his wife Isabella Lockhart Robertson. He was educated at the High School of Dundee. His mother's family had long resided in India and in 1896 David Lorimer relocated to India following completion of his military training at Sandhurst. His brothers Gordon and Bert also worked in the civil administration in the Indian Political Service.^[3] He also had a sister, Hilda.

In 1910 Lorimer married Emily Overend of Dundee. Emily Overend Lorimer (1881-1949) was a noted journalist, writer and lecturer in German philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford.^[4] In the late 1920s and 1930s she became on of the leading commentators in Britain on Nazism and translated works of Adolf Hitler. ^[5]

Military and political career

From 1898 to 1903, Lorimer served in the Q.V.O. Corps of Guides, including a stint from 1901 to 1903 with the Khyber Rifles. In 1903, he entered the Indian Political Service. During his career, he held various offices, including Vice Consul in Arabia (1903-1909) and consul in Kerman and Balochistan (1912-1914 and 1916-1917). Lorimer was the Political Agent in Gilgit from 1920-24.^[6] During World War I, he served in Cairo. In 1924, he left the political service.

Scholarly Contributions

In addition to his military and political activities, Lorimer a noted scholar of the peoples of Hunza and Gilgit . He worked as a linguist with the languages of Iran and Pakistan, including Khowar, Shina, Bakhtiari, Wakhi and the Persian dialects of Kerman and Gabri. He wrote a standard work on Burushaski, a language spoken only in the Karakoram in what is today Pakistan.

Lorimer was awarded the Leverhulme Research Fellowship in 1933-1935 and in 1953 he became an honorary member of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. His notes and correspondence are now kept in a library at SOAS and in the collections of the British Library.^[7]

List of publications

• Pashtu, Part I: Syntax of Colonial Pashtu with chapters on the Persian and Indian elements in the modern language Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915
• Persian Tales. Together with Hilda Roberts (illustrations) and Emily Overend Lorimer (translation), Macmillan & Co. 1919
• The Phonology of the Bakhtiari, Badakshani, and Madaglashti Dialects of Modern Persian. London 1922
• The Burushaski Language, Vol. I: Introduction and Grammar. Aschehoug, Oslo 1935
• The Burushaski Language, Vol.II: Histories. Aschehoug, Oslo 1935
• The Burushaski Language, Vol.II: Dictionary. 1938.
• The Dumki Language. 1939
• The Wakhi Language. 1958

References

1. ^ Lorimer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Lockhart Robertson, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Archive Catalogue
2. ^ Emily Overend Lorimer, "Papers of Emily Overend Lorimer, author, editor of 'Basrah Times' 1916-17, wife of Lt-Col David Lorimer, Indian Political Service 1903-27 Mss Eur F177 1902-1949", British Library, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections; Private Papers [Mss Eur F175 - Mss Eur F199], National Archives (UK), http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=059-msseur_13&cid=-1&Gsm=2008-06-18#-1 
3. ^ Penelope Tuson: Playing the Game: The Story of Western Women in Arabia, I.B.Tauris 2003, ISBN 1-86064-933-5
4. ^ India Office Records: Private Papers [Mss Eur F175 - Mss Eur F199], British Library
5. ^ Dan Stone The ‘Mein Kampf Ramp’: Emily Overend Lorimer and Hitler Translations in Britain German History 2008 26(4):504-519.
6. ^ Sabine Felmy. Voices of the Nightingale Felmy. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1997. p. 17
7. ^ Person Details: Lorimer, David Lockhart Robertson (1876-1962) Lieutenant Colonel Indian Army Linguist, The National Archives, Richmond, Surrey

Persondata
Name	Lorimer, David Lockhart Robertson
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 24, 1876
Place of birth
Date of death	1962
Place of death