Jacobus Golius

Jacob Golius (born Jacob van Gool, a.k.a. "Jacob Gohl" (German) and "Iacobo Golio" (Italian)), (1596, The Hague-Sep 28 1667, Leiden), was a Dutch Orientalist and mathematician.

Golius came to the University of Leiden in 1612 to study mathematics. In 1618 he registered again to study Arabic and other Eastern languages, where he was the most distinguished pupil of Erpenius. In 1622 he accompanied the Dutch embassy to Morocco, and on his return he was chosen to succeed Erpenius (May 12, 1625). In the following year he set out on a Syrian and Arabian tour from which he did not return until 1629. The remainder of his life was spent at Leiden where he held the chair of mathematics as well as that of Arabic.

His most important work is the "Lexicon Arabico-Latinum", (Leiden, 1653), which, based on the "Sihah" of Al-Jauhari, was only superseded by the corresponding work of Freytag in 1837. Among his earlier publications may be mentioned editions of various Arabic texts ("Proverbia quaedam Alis, imperatoris Muslemici, et Carmen Tograipoetae doctissimi, necnon dissertatio quaedam Aben Synae", 1629; and "Ahmedis Arabsiadae vitae et rerum gestarum Timuri, gui vulgo Tamer, lanes dicitur, historia", 1636). In 1656 he published a new edition, with considerable additions, of the "Grammatica Arabica" of Erpenius. After his death, there was found among his papers a "Dictionarium Persico-Latinum" which was published, with additions, by Edmund Castell in his "Lexicon heptaglotton" (1669). Golius also edited, translated and annotated the astronomical treatise of Alfragan ("Muhammedis, filii Ketiri Ferganensis, qui vulgo Alfraganus dicitur, elementa astronomica Arabice et Latine", 1669).

References

*1911. The article can be seen [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Golius here] .
* [http://baheyeldin.com/history/golius.html Bio a the Baheyeldin Dynasty site]

Golius was a friend of the French philosopher René Descartes. It is therefore highly probable that he was able to read to him parts of the mathematical Arabic texts he had started to collect, among others on the Conics.