- Karl Friedrich Neumann
Karl Friedrich Neumann (
December 28 ,1793 -March 17 ,1870 ), German orientalist, was born, under the name of Bamberger, at Reichsmannsdorf, nearBamberg .He studied
philosophy andphilology at Heidelberg, Munich and Göttingen, became a convert toProtestantism and took the name of Neumann. From 1822 to 1825 he was a teacher atSpeyer ; then he learned Armenian inVenice and visitedParis andLondon .In 1829 he went to
China , where he studied the language and amassed a large library of valuable books and manuscripts. These, about 12,000 in number, he presented to the royal library at Munich. Returning to Germany in 1831 Neumann was made professor of Armenian and Chinese in the university of Munich. He held this position until 1852, when, owing to his pronounced revolutionary opinions, he was removed from his chair. Ten years later he settled inBerlin , where he remained till his death.Neumann's leisure time after his enforced retirement was occupied in historical studies, and besides his "Geschichte des englischen Reichs in Asien" (Leipzig, 1851), he wrote a history of the
United States of America , "Geschichte der Vereinigten Staten von Amerika" (Berlin, 1863-1866).His other works include:
*"Versuch einer Geschichte der armenischen Literatur" (Leipzig, 1836)
*"Die Volker des südlichen Russland" (1846, and again 1855)
*"Geschichte des englisch-chinesischen Kriegs" (1846, and again 1855)He also issued some translations from Chinese and Armenian:
*"Catechism of the Shamans" (1831)
*Vahram 's "Chronicle of the Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia" (1831)
*"History of the Pirates in the China Sea" (1831)The journal of theRoyal Asiatic Society (London, 1871) contains a full list of his works.----
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