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{{Short description|German Indologist (1850–1937)}}

Hermann Jacobi (1850-1937) an eminent German Indologist was born Hermann Georg Jacobi,in Koeln on the 1st.February 1850.After school,there,he went to Berlin,where initially,he studied maths,but probably,under the influence of Albrecht Weber, switched to Sanskrit and comparative linguistics.He,however obtained his Doctorate from Bonn,where Christian Lassen was still Professor, the subject of his thesis being on the origin of the term "hora"in Indian astrology.This was in the year 1872,and,luckily for him,he was able to visit London the following year and examine the Indian manuscripts available there.Even more luckily,he was able to visit India the following year,accompanyin Georg Buehler to Rajasthan,where manuscripts were being collected.Jaisalmer Library was probably the most fruitful of the places he visited as he came across Jain Manuscripts,which were of abiding interest to him for the rest of his life.He later edited and translated many of them,both into German and English,including those for Max Mueller's "Sacred Books of the East".

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}

Apart from Jaina studies,Jacobi was interested Indian maths,astrology and the Natural Sciences,and using astronomical information available in the Vedas,he tried to establish the date of their composition.The conclusion he came to,i.e.4500 B.C.is not generally accepted today and was controversial,even when it was propounded.Like Alexander Cunningham before him he tried to systematise how,from the evidence available in inscriptions,a true local time could be arrived at.

{{More citations needed|date=February 2009}}

Apart from this Jacobi,in later life interested himself in Poettry,Epics and Philosophy,particularly the school of Nyaya-Vaisheshika.

{{Infobox person

|image = Hermann Jacobi.tif

| birth_date = {{birth date|1850|2|11|df=y}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1937|10|19|1850|2|11|df=y}}

| occupation = [[Indologist]]

}}

'''Hermann Georg Jacobi''' (11 February 1850 – 19 October 1937) was an eminent German [[Indologist]].

==Education==

[[File:Hermann_Jacobi.jpg|thumb|right]]

Jacobi was born in [[Köln]] (Cologne)<ref name=nie>{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Jacobi, Hermann Georg|year=1905}}</ref> on 11 February 1850. He was educated in the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] of Cologne<ref name=amer>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Jacobi, Herman Georg Jakob|year=1920}}</ref> and then went to the [[University of Berlin]], where initially he studied mathematics, but later, probably under the influence of [[Albrecht Weber]], switched to [[Sanskrit]] and comparative linguistics, which he studied under Weber and [[Johann Gildemeister]].<ref name=nie/> He obtained his [[Doctor of Philosophy|doctorate]] from the [[University of Bonn]]. The subject of his thesis, written in 1872, was the origin of the term [[Hora (astrology)|"hora"]] in Indian astrology.

Jacobi was able to visit London for a year, 1872–1873, where he examined the Indian manuscripts available there. The next year, with [[Georg Buehler]], he visited [[Rajasthan]], [[India]], where manuscripts were being collected.<ref name=jdict>

{{citation | year=2004 | title = Historical dictionary of Jainism | author1=Kristi L. Wiley | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | isbn=978-0-8108-5051-4 | page=99 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XubfClGnIAUC&q=jacobi&pg=PA99}}

</ref> At [[Jaisalmer Library]], he came across [[Jain]] manuscripts, which were of abiding interest to him for the rest of his life. He later edited and translated many of them, both into German and English, including those for [[Max Mueller]]'s [[Sacred Books of the East]].

==Academic appointments==

In 1875, he became a [[Privatdocent|docent]] in Sanskrit at Bonn; from 1876-85 was [[professor]] extraordinarius of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at [[University of Münster|Münster]], Westphalia; in 1885, he was appointed professor ordinarius of Sanskrit at [[University of Kiel|Kiel]]; and in 1889 was appointed professor of Sanskrit at Bonn.<ref name=nie/><ref name="amer"/> He served as professor in Bonn until his retirement in 1922. After his retirement, Jacobi remained active, lecturing and writing till his death in 1937.

==Work==

Apart from Jaina studies, Jacobi was interested in [[Indian mathsmathematics]], [[Hindu astrology|astrology]] and the Natural[[Science Sciencesand technology in India|natural sciences]], and using astronomical information available in the [[Vedas]], he tried to establish the date of their composition.The conclusion he came to,i.e.4500 B.C.is not generally accepted today and was controversial,even when it was propounded.Like [[Alexander Cunningham]] before him he tried to systematise how, from the evidence available in inscriptions, a true local time could be arrived at.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

Jacobi's studies in astronomy have regained importance today in the context of the [[Out of India theory]], because his calculations led him to believe that the hymns of the [[Rigveda]] were to be dated as early as 4500 B.C. Thus he is the only renowned Western Indologist whose research supports the claim of the proponents of the theory that the Vedas are to be dated back much earlier than the first half of the second millennium B.C. According to mainstream Indology, the [[Indo-Aryan Migration]] took place during this period of time and the Vedas were only composed after the migration. When Jacobi published his views in an article on the origin of Vedic culture in the [[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'']] (1908), he therefore triggered off a major controversy in Indology.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

ApartIn from this Jacobi,inhis later life, Jacobi interested himself in Poettrypoetry, epics,Epics and Philosophyphilosophy, particularly the school of [[Nyaya-Vaisheshika]].{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

It is said that Jacobi was greatly influenced by [[Jain philosophy]] and wished to be a [[Jainism|Jain]] in his next life.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

==Honors==

Among the honours he received were a doctorate from the [[University of Calcutta]] where he had gone in the winter of 1913-14 to lecture on poetics, while the Jain community conferred the title Jain Darshan Divakar — Sun of the Jain doctrine — upon him. He became an international honorary member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1909.<ref>{{cite web |title=Member Directory |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/hermann-georg-jacobi |website=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=October 7, 2022}}</ref>

== Publications (selection) ==

*''Zwei Jainastotras'' (1876)

*''[https://sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/index.htm Jaina Sutras, Part I]'' (1884) (''[[Ākārāṅga Sūtra]]'' and ''[[Kalpa Sūtra]]'')

*''[https://sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe45/index.htm Jaina Sutras, Part II]'' (1895) (''[[Uttarādhyayana]]'' and ''[[Sūtrakritāṅga]]'')

*''Ausgewählte Erzählungen in Maharashtri'' (i.e. Selected tales of the Maharashtri, 1886)

*''The Computation of Hindu Dates in the Inscriptions'' (1892)

*''Das Ramayana, Geschichte und Inhalt nebst Concordanz nach den gedruckten Rezensionen'' (1893)

*''Compositum und Nebensatz, Studien über die indogermanische Sprachentwicklung'' (1897)

*''On the Antiquity of Vedic Culture'' (1908)

*''Schriften zur indischen Poetik und Ästhetik'' (i.e. Writings on Indian poetics and aesthetics, 1910)

*''Die Entwicklung der Gottesidee bei den Indern und deren Beweise für das Dasein Gottes'' (i.e. The development of the Indians' idea of God and their proofs for God's existence, 1923)

*''Über das ursprüngliche Yogasystem'' (i.e. About the original system of Yoga, 1929 / 1930)

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hermann Georg Jacobi}}

{{Modern Jain writers|state=expanded}}

{{Jainism topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobi, Hermann}}

[[Category:1850 births]]

[[Category:1937 deaths]]

[[Category:German Indologists]]

[[Category:Scholars of Jainism]]

[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]

[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]