Alois Musil

and writer.

Musil was born into the family of a poor farmer and was given to study to be a priest. After a break he finished his studies in 1895. His unhealthy lifestyle caused him a serious lung disease. Musil took up bible study in a newly opened religious institute in Jerusalem but left in disappointment after 14 months. He travelled to Beirut and other places in the Arab world. Musil kept on coming back to the Arab world until 1917 and collected a huge body of scientific material. Among his discoveries was the desert castle of Qasr Amra (from the 8th century) with figural Islamic paintings.

Between his trips Musil kept working on his publications and lecturing. In 1902 he became professor at the theology university in Olomouc, in 1909 professor of theology at Vienna University. In addition to modern and classical languages he mastered 35 dialects of Arabic.

During World War I he was sent to the Middle East to eliminate English attempts to instigate a revolution against Turkey, thus being an opponent of T. E. Lawrence. After the war he became a professor at Charles University in Prague (1920), despite opposing voices resenting his close ties with the fallen monarchy. He helped to establish the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Prague ("Orientální ústav Akademie Věd", in 1927).

In cooperation with the American industrialist Charles Richard Crane he published his works in English (1922-23). In addition to scientific work and popular travel books he published 21 novels for young readers.

Musil worked for Charles University until 1938, but was active until the very end of his life. He died due to kidney dysfunction complicated by a lung disease.

External links

* [http://muzeum.vyskov.cz/musil/klobas_en.htm Biography]
* [http://membres.lycos.fr/amusil/ Musil in Jordan]
* [http://www.libri.cz/databaze/orient/search.php?name=Musil Biography, bibliography (in Czech)]
* [http://www.ingema.net/clanek.php?id=401 Details of Musil's discoveries (in Czech)]