Justus Olshausen

Justus Olshausen (May 9, 1800 – December 28, 1882) was a German orientalist who made contributions to Semitic and Iranian philology.

Biography

Olshausen was born in Hohenfelde, and studied at Kiel, Berlin and Paris, where he was a student of Silvestre de Sacy (1758-1838). From 1830 to 1852 he was a professor at the University of Kiel, where he was appointed curator in 1848. In 1852 he was removed from his position by the Danish government, which he had energetically opposed, and he subsequently became a professor of oriental languages at the University of Königsberg. In 1860, he became a full member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and in 1874 was appointed Counsellor to the Ministry of Education in Berlin.

Olshausen specialized in Semitic and Persian philology, and was a pioneer in Pahlavi studies. Among his written works was an 1861 textbook of Hebrew language, and a critical examination of the Avesta, which is a collection of sacred Zoroastrian texts. Other publications by Olshausen include:

• Emendationen zum Alten Testament (Emendation of the Old Testament), 1826
• Fragments relatifs de la religion de Zoroastre, Paris 1829; (with Julius von Mohl 1800-1876).
• Catalogue of Arabic and Persian manuscripts of the Royal Library in Copenhagen, 1851
• Erklärung der Psalmen (Declaration of Psalms), 1853
• Prüfung des Charakters der in den assyrischen Keilschriften enthaltenen semitischen Sprache (Examination of Assyrian cuneiform writings containing Semitic language), 1865

Family

He was the brother of theologian Hermann Olshausen and politician Theodor Olshausen, and father to gynecologist Robert Michaelis von Olshausen.

References

•  "Olshausen, Justus". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
•  "Olshausen, Robert". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.