Otto Von Bohtlingk – Short Biography

Otto Von Bohtlingk (1815 – 1904) was possibly the greatest German Indologist of the 19th century CE. He was born and brought up in St. Petersburg, where he received most of his education. His German ancestors migrated to Russia from Lübeck in 1713. Having studied (1833–1835) Oriental languages, particularly Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit, at the University of Saint Petersburg, he continued his studies in Germany, first in Berlin and then (1839–1842) in Bonn. In 1842, he became a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, a position he held throughout his life, enabling him to devote all his time and energy to academic pursuits.

Returning to Saint Petersburg in 1842, he was attached to the Royal Academy of Sciences, and was elected an ordinary member of that society in 1855. In 1860 he was made Russian state councilor, and later privy councilor with a title of nobility. In 1862, the American Philosophical Society elected him an international Member. In 1868 he settled at Jena, and in 1885 moved to Leipzig, where he resided until his death.

The first publication of Otto Von Bohtlingk was Paninis Acht Bucher Grammatischer Regeln (Panini’s Eight Books of Grammatical Rules), which appeared in 1839. It was an edition of the text the Ashtadhyayi with two modern Sanskrit commentaries, supplemented by a volume of introduction, notes and indexes, which included Dhatupatha (list of roots) and Panini’s vocabulary. This was perhaps the earliest serious study of Panini’s grammar by any foreigner. Next came an edition, with an explanation, of Mugdhabodha of Bopadeva of the 13^th century CE. It was published in 1847.

The magnum opus of Bohtlingk, however, is the great Sanskrit Wnrtebuch in seven volumes, which he produced with Rudolph Roth. It was published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, during 1852-1875. Roth was in charge of the Vedic literature, but the entire classical literature, which amounted to nearly nine-tenths of the work, was under the care of Otto Von Bohtlingk. The importance of this dictionary, supplemented by the works on grammar by Otto Von Bohtlingk, in establishing the study of Sanskrit in Germany and the West is immense.